Talk To Me
by Charlie1121
Summary: Danny and Steve are involed in a car crash, it leads them to realise what good friends they've become, and teaches them both to let down barriers they'd put up, and learn to trust the friendships they have made in Five-0. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

It was a typical Hawaiian day, sunny and warm, and Danny had quite been enjoying his day on the Island, although he wouldn't admit it, that was until him and Steve were involved in a car chase. It had all started after they'd pulled up to an apartment to question a suspect in a kidnapping case. It should have been an easy pick-up, but when Danny was with Steve he knew nothing was ever simple or easy. The man who they had been wanting to question was at his apartment door when Steve had pulled the car onto the gravel stones outside the apartment, the noise alerting the suspect to their presence. Both Danny and Steve reached for their guns, but before they had time to shout at him to stop the suspect had bolted to his banged up old car green, which was outside his apartment and had gone racing pass them.

Steve had turned the car around at breakneck speed and sped after him. "Call for back-up", he said to Danny as he turned on the blue lights and weaved around a parked car.

"Oh yeah great, I'll call for back up whilst you try to get us killed in another stupid car chase", muttered Danny. He pulled out his cell phone and called HPD. "HPD are going to try and cut him off when he gets to the junction for the beach", Danny said reaching down and holding onto the edge of his seat.

"Ok", said Steve, "we're lucky it's quiet out he's weaving all over the place, wouldn't surprise me if he's drunk".

Danny looked up at the car, it was weaving over both lanes of traffic and narrowly avoiding parked cars and lampposts. "The sting should get him in a minute" he said trying not to sound as uncomfortable as he felt, he hated car chases, even when they were on a road with asphalt and clearly marked lanes, not that the suspect was obeying the laws of the road very well anyway.

They saw the flashing lights up ahead and the suspect slammed on his brakes but it was too late, his tyres met the sting and instantly deflated, the car weaving all over the place, before ending up slowly crashing into a lamppost, the bonnet was dented and there was smoke coming out of it. Steve pulled the car up to the side of the green car so that the suspect couldn't open his door, Danny had wound down his window and had his gun drawn, the suspect looked dazed and had a blood on his forehead but wasn't armed as far as Danny could see. He motioned for HPD to come over and they climbed over the passenger seat and cuffed the clearly drunk man.

"Well that was one of your more sedate car chases," remarked Danny as Steve reversed the car slightly so he could get out and they could search the car.

"Yeah I guess it was", smiled Steve, knowing how much his partner hated car chases always made him enjoy them that little bit more.

They got out the car and walked over to the banged up green car "I'm surprised this thing even made it here", commented Steve. Danny had opened the back doors and was removing pizza boxes and burger boxes, "at least it had company he said holding up a mouldy sandwich and throwing it as far away from his as possible, "it doesn't look like there is anything interesting in here", Danny shouted to Steve who was now over talking to HPD about the suspect, "I don't even think I'm as gross as this guy, there's mould growing on mould in here", he'd seen enough and feeling like he'd never been clean again headed over to where Steve was talking to HPD.

Steve looked up from talking to HPD to see Danny walking over trying to wipe his hands on his shirt; he smiled glad he hadn't had to touch anything in the car. Danny walked up and seeing his smile decided to wipe his hands down the sleeve of Steve's t-shirt. "Hey cut it out," Steve said hitting Danny's hand away.

"Oh sorry partner didn't see you there", Danny smirked. "So has the owner of that disgusting car gone over to HPD?" Danny said still trying to get pizza sauce off his hands.

"Yeah he's over there now so we'll go back and question him and Chin and Kono are in the office trying to find out any connections he has" Steve said looking down at his t-shirt in disgust.

They headed over to Danny's car. Danny got in the passenger seat as he always seemed to now, but this time he wasn't too annoyed it meant he could hunt in the glove box for some wipes or something, his hands and now shirt stank and he wasn't happy about it. "I just got this shirt last week he mumbled"; trying to open a pack of dashboard wipes he's found at the back of the glove box.

"Well at least we'll always know when you're around today", Steve said trying to hide his smile by looking out the window.

"Very funny", said Danny pulling out a lemon scented wipe knowing it was useless and he would have to change when they got back to headquarters. Just then they saw a car go speeding straight in front of them at a crossroads. "What the hell was that idiot doing?" shouted Danny about to go into another of his rants when he looked to see another car come hurtling towards them.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I really didn't expect anything so it has made me very happy! Here is another chapter, I hope you like it, and there is more to come!

Steve woke to the sound of a car horn blaring out, he felt like it was literally in his head. He struggled to open his eyes and found his head resting on the steering wheel, realising he tried to lift his head to make the noise stop. He was relieved when it stopped but now it was replaced with his head feeling like it was about to explode and the effort of trying to keep his head up. He was wondering if it would be easier to rest his head on the steering wheel and try and ignore the deafening tones of the horn, or try and stay how he was when he realised where he was and what had just happened, he knew he had to lift his head, he had to check on Danny. He tried to move but a sharp pain pounded through his neck causing him to take a sharp intake of breath and close his eyes again. It took a couple of minutes but he slowly managed to open his eyes again, the need to check on Danny overrode the pain he was feeling and he knew had to try and angle his eyes in a way he didn't think possible to avoid moving his neck anymore so as he could look to his right to check on Danny. He managed to get just a glimpse of him before he couldn't hold his head up any longer, he looked back, Danny was unconscious his head was back against the seat at an awkward angle and there blood covering his face, his blonde hair now dark. Steve's SEAL instincts wanted to kick in, he wanted to help his partner, make sure he was alive, but he just couldn't keep his head up any longer, and the steering wheel looked like the most appealing place to just lean his head on for two minutes, he leant his head down carefully, he closed his eyes tightly on hearing the sound of the horn again, but as the pain from his neck overrode everything else, he relaxed into the darkness that seemed to cover him.

Chin and Kono had been at the headquarters when the phone rang, they thought it would be Steve or Danny telling them what they had found on the suspect and checking up on any leads. But when Kono answered the phone she immediately knew something was wrong. "This is Detective Roberts from HPD, who am I speaking to?"

Kono froze, she didn't know what had happened but she knew it wasn't good, "this is Kono", she said shakily, wanting to keep her talking to a minimum so she could find out what had happened and if her instincts were right.

"There's been an accident."

Kono's police instincts kicked in and she composed herself "who's hurt?" she said. Chin looked up from the table where they had been searching for information on the suspect, worry in his eyes.

"Danny Williams and Steve McGarrett" said the other voice, clearly from the scene as she could hear the sirens.

"Where?" She was almost shouting now, and grabbed the car keys from the table as she began running down the stairs, Chin following closely behind.

Steve had been unconscious but he didn't know how long for, he could hear sirens, and as he came back to conscious he managed to piece everything together quickly, he knew there had been an accident, if he could only just hear sirens now then he couldn't have been out for long. His head was pounding and he felt his legs wedged under the steering wheel, then he heard shouting and the door he was half leaning on flung open. "Kono stop" he heard Chin's voice clearly.

"He's unconscious", Kono shouted, "we can't just wait for the paramedics when they could be dying in here". The accident had happened minutes from the Headquarters and along with two HPD cars Chin and Kono were the next to arrive. The detective who had spoken to Kono on the phone had been at the scene putting up police tape, and had told her to stay back and wait for the paramedics and firemen but she wasn't leaving the other half of their team alone for a second. Steve had half fallen out of the now open door and he could feel someone holding him up and another hand pushing into his neck checking for a pulse. "He's alive", he heard Chin say. "I can't open the passenger door it's too banged up, I'll open the back and climb over and check on Danny", Chin said worry in his eyes. Kono nodded silently, gently pushing Steve's slumped body back into the car so as not to do more damage to him. She watched nervously as Chin crawled across the back of the car and reached out a hand to check for Danny's pulse. "He's alive", shouted Chin, "but he's pretty banged up, he's got blood coming out of his mouth, it looks like he took the full impact", he pulled his hand away which was now covered in blood. "Where's the paramedics" he said in frustration.

Steve had heard everything going on but he couldn't open his eyes or respond. He had felt the relief overwhelm him when he had heard Danny was alive, but he could also hear the fear in Chin's voice. He could hear Kono's rapid breathing and feel the heat from the sun, but that was about the extent on his capabilities right now and he hated it. He tried to move his legs and groaned as the pain that was definitely worse than that in his neck pulsed through his legs and threatened to take away the little consciousness he had. "Steve, Steve can you hear me, open your eyes if you can hear me" He could hear the panic in Kono's voice and wished he had just an ounce of energy that would allow him to open his eyes and be able to tell her that he was ok, but from just that little movement the pain overwhelmed him and blackness took over.

Kono stood leaning over Steve trying to hold back the tears she could feel building up in her eyes, she heard the paramedics pull up and run over, and she was gently pulled to the side away from Steve so as the paramedic could get to him. She took a few steps back trying to take in what she was witnessing as she watched the paramedics place their bags of the floor and attend to Danny and Steve. Chin was still in the back of the car, he looked down at his hands, which were covered in Danny's blood, he felt completely helpless. The first paramedic was putting a collar around Steve's neck and was wiping away metal and dirt from his hand so he could insert an IV. Steve's hand was limp as the paramedic held it and Chin hated seeing Steve so weak and vulnerable. The fireman were trying to pull open the passenger door so another paramedic could get to Danny, it took about five of them before they managed to pull it open enough so the paramedic could get to work. He knelt down next to Danny taking his wrist and checking for a pulse, he shouted his findings back to his partner, "weak pulse, pretty sure he's got a collapsed lung, breathing is irregular and shallow" he said putting his stethoscope around his neck and reaching down to the bag he had been carrying taking out a collar and placing it around Danny's neck, he took Danny's arm looking for a vein so as he could insert an IV. "Possible internal bleeding he's got blood coming out of his mouth and bruising all around his stomach" he said tapping Danny's arm to find a vein.

"Mine's not so bad" responded the other paramedic, "I'm going to need the firemen to cut the car open so I can release his legs, they might be broken I can't see they're wedged under the steering wheel, breathing is irregular but pulse is strong". Kono stood at the side listening.

"He groaned a minute ago and his legs moved a bit," she said nervously to the paramedic who was now injecting something into the IV in Steve's hand.

"Did he respond to you?" Asked the paramedic motioning for the firemen to come over.

"No I asked him to open his eyes but he didn't" she said feeling a lump form in her throat. "Are they gunna be ok?"

The paramedic looked up at her "I really can't say until we get them to hospital", he said trying to sound as reassuring as he could. "We'll know more once they have scans and we find out the extent of their injuries".

Steve woke to the sound of metal being crushed and voices all around. He felt disorientated, which didn't happen to him often, he figured he must have concussion or something if he kept blacking out. He couldn't hear what the voices were saying but they sounded panicked and loud. He forced himself to open his eyes and was greeted with blinding sunlight and a blue sheet over his head. He tried to move his neck but realised he had a collar around it, he sighed with a sense of relief, at least help had arrived, he wanted to see how Danny was remembering how his partner had looked the last time he had seen him made his stomach flip over, but there was a blue plastic sheet between them. He tried to comprehend what had happened and then a realisation struck him something that he didn't want to even comprehend, what if the sheet was there because Danny had died, what if he was sat in the car alive and Danny was dead. He had heard the fear in Chin's voice, what if that fear had meant it was only a matter of time before Danny died. His throat had a searing pain in it and he wondered if he could even make a sound but he had to try, he tried to swallow a couple of times so it didn't hurt so much. "DANNY" the loudness of his voice surprised even him. Then the noise from what he had guessed were the firemen taking the car apart stopped, the blue sheet moved and he took a deep breath. A paramedic put his head under the sheet; he had a hard hat on his head.

"Steve, Steve, can you tell me what day it is?" Steve almost laughed at how stupid the question sounded.

"WHERE'S DANNY, IS HE OK, IS HE ALIVE", he blurted it out before realising that he was still shouting.

"Your partner stopped breathing", came the answer to the question. Steve just blinked not wanting to take in what the paramedic had just said.

"What he's dead?" Steve cried back trying to take a deep breathe into his lungs, which felt like they had just been crushed.

"He's been taken by ambulance to the local hospital, I'm sorry that's all I know, they were giving him CPR when they left". The paramedic saw what little colour was left drain out of Steve's face.

Steve didn't want to hear anything else the paramedic had to say he just knew he needed to get to Danny, he could feel the tears in his eyes and almost whispered "I need to see him right now, please he can't die".

The paramedic ducked back under the sheet and Kono's face appeared. "Boss it's ok" she said trying to sound calmer than she felt, she had heard Steve's shouts as she had stood on the sidewalk and she couldn't leave it any longer, "Chin went with him, he just rang me, they got him back, they're taking him into surgery right now ok?" She said wanting to reassure her boss and calm him down.

Steve looked at her, his eyes red and swollen he felt so weak but he needed to look into Kono's eyes, he needed to see that she was telling him the truth, he could see the pain and worry in her eyes, but he knew just from looking at her, that at that moment in time Danny was still alive. "Ok", he said hoarsely he felt the weakness overpower him, just the effort of keeping his eyes open and his brain alert was demanding more energy than he had right now. The adrenaline that had kicked in when he felt the need to save Danny had quickly drained, and knowing his friend was now at the hospital, and that he was alive, meant he could give in to his pain and allow himself to close his eyes again.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's another chapter, thank you so much for the nice reviews! I hope you like this chapter, I'm not 100% sure about it but I think we needed this kind of chapter to lead into other things. I know my grammar isn't perfect and I have spent the day checking the chapter so I really hope there aren't too many mistakes, but if there are they're all my own, and I hope you can read past them and enjoy the story. Thanks again! _

Kono and Chin were in the hospital waiting room, they had stood at the scene of the crash and watched as Danny had been rushed away from the car wreck, Chin going with him in the back of the ambulance. Kono staying with Steve as he slipped in and out of consciousness as the firemen removed the roof of Danny's car so that they could move him safely without doing more damage. Now an hour later they were pacing the hospital waiting room, anxiously waiting for news on the other half of their team. Both Steve and Danny had been rushed to surgery, and the doctor had told them as he ran past to not expect news for a while. Kono sat down her legs feeling like a dead weight. She put her head in her hands rubbing her eyes. She pushed her hair away from her face and looked up at Chin who was leaning against the vending machine staring out the window. "Should we call Rachel?" She asked looking nervously across at her cousin.

Chin his eyes still staring out the window replied quietly "we'll wait until Danny's out of surgery, at least then we're not just giving her half a story." Kono nodded and began pacing again.

Five hours later a doctor approached Chin and Kono, they were sitting next to each other Chin was looking down into a cold cup of coffee that he had barely touched and Kono had her head in hands exhausted from the worry. The doctor walked up tentatively, not wanting to make them jump. He coughed quietly and they looked up with red bloodshot eyes. "I'm here about Steve McGarrett," he said gently. Both Chin and Kono stood up in unison.

"How is he?" Asked Chin, putting his coffee on the table to the side of him and rubbing his tired eyes.

"He had a slight tear in his liver which we've repaired in surgery, he also has concussion and some bruised ribs." The doctor smiled as he saw the relief cross their faces.

"When can we see him?" Kono asked.

"He's just in recovery now but I will send a nurse to come and get you as soon as he's settled in a room," smiled the doctor. Kono forced a smile, but she couldn't relax until she knew Danny would be ok too.

"Do you know anything about our other team member who was brought in just before Steve, his name was Danny Williams?"

"I'm sorry I don't." The doctor replied, "I'm sure a nurse or doctor will update you with information as soon as they can." He pulled his surgical hat from his head and walked away leaving the cousins stood in the middle of the waiting room.

About 30 minutes later a nurse walked into the waiting room, Chin and Kono looked up from their seats. She smiled down at them "Steve is now settled in a room, he is very tired, but the doctor has said he is allowed visitors," she said motioning down the corridor, "he's on floor 5, room 521". Both Chin and Kono stood up and nodding their thanks ran towards the elevator.

They ran out of the elevator doors before they were fully open and ran down the corridor, glancing at the numbers on the sides of the doors soon finding room 521. Kono stopped and looked in the window to the room. She saw Steve lying motionless, wires attached to his chest, and IV's in each of his hands, which were placed down at his side. She took a step back from the window not used to seeing Steve so helpless. Chin took her hand and pushed the door to the room open guiding Kono through. They walked in quietly not wanting to wake Steve. A nurse was stood at the end of his bed writing notes in a folder. She smiled up at them and motioned for them to come nearer the bed, she spoke softly as they walked towards her "he's just nodded off again," she smiled. "He's going to be a bit drowsy from the anaesthetic and the concussion so I wouldn't expect him to be awake much tonight," she said. Both Chin and Kono nodded silently and Chin pulled a seat up next to Steve's bedside. Kono stood at Steve's side listening to the gentle beeping of the heart monitor and looking at everything attached to Steve, the nurse placed the folder down on a table at the end of Steve's bed and put her hand on Kono's back and gently leading her to a chair the other side of Steve. "He's alright," she said, looking at Kono, "he just needs the IV's for fluids and antibiotics, and we're just monitoring his heart and pulse because he's been in a trauma, and we just need to keep him under close observation for the next couple of days, he should make a full recovery," she smiled and after checking the monitors left the room.

Chin and Kono had been in Steve's room about 2 hours, both were asleep, the hospital chairs were uncomfortable but they were so exhausted they didn't really care. Kono stirred when she heard someone come into the room, she noticed the nurse from earlier and forced a smile. The nurse knelt down next to Kono being mindful not to wake Steve or Chin. "I have some news on Detective Williams, he has just come out of surgery," she said.

Kono sat bolt upright her eyes wide "what is it?" She asked in a panicked whisper.

"He had a lot of internal bleeding, his spleen and liver were badly lacerated during the collision but the doctor managed to stem the bleeding." She took a breathe and carried on "he also had a collapsed lung due to a broken rib piercing it which needed to be re inflated, as well as that he has severe concussion and bruising and swelling to the brain." Kono sat trying to take in everything the nurse had just said. "He's in the ICU because the doctors are not happy with his blood pressure and at this moment in time he is unable to breathe on his own, although the doctors believe that is due to the his brain being swollen which should go down in a few days." She finished. Kono let out the breath that she had been holding since she had heard the nurse say Danny's name.

"But he's going to pull through right, I mean he can heal and get better?"

"The next twenty four to forty eight hours are crucial," said the nurse touching Kono's arm "he'll need to be closely monitored for anymore internal bleeding and hopefully fluids will help improve his blood pressure, he should be able to come off the ventilator tomorrow or the next day once the swelling has gone down in his brain, but until he wakes up I really can't say if he is going to be one hundred percent or not." She said honestly.

"Ok" Kono said pushing her hair back from her face "can you keep me updated, when can we go see him?"

"I will come and get you as soon as the doctors say he can have visitors." The nurse said as she got up from her knelt position, "it may be a couple of hours yet though," she looked over at Steve's heart monitor and walked out of the room. Kono looked over at Chin who was still sleeping, she knew she would have to tell him the news soon, but the person she worried most about telling was Steve, she looked over at his pale face, a bruise forming over his left eye, she hoped he would stay asleep for a while, just until Danny's blood pressure was under control and the news sounded more positive.

Kono had been stood staring out the window in Steve's room for about 45 minutes, the sun was setting but she could still feel the warmth from it through the glass. Chin stirred in his chair. She looked over at him as he rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up, his body looking stiff. She walked over to him "not the most comfortable place I've ever slept," she said walking out of the room, using her eyes to tell Chin she wanted him to follow. Even though Steve was still unconscious she half expected his SEAL instincts to kick in if he felt something was wrong.

Chin walked out of the room rubbing his neck, "what's wrong?" He asked.

"The nurse came in a little while ago with an update about Danny," Kono said looking back into the room to check on Steve.

"Is he ok?" Asked Chin worry etched in his eyes. Kono took a deep breath she wanted to remember everything the nurse had told her.

"He had internal bleeding, and a punctured lung that they had to re inflate, and he's got a bruised brain, he's in ICU they say the next twenty four to forty eight hours are crucial". Chin rubbed his hand over his forehead taking it all in.

"At least he's out of surgery," he said, trying to sound positive. Kono nodded.

"They were worried about his blood pressure, but the nurse said they were giving him fluids to try and correct it," Chin sat down in the seat outside Steve's room.

"When can we go see him?"

"She said she would come and get me as soon as the doctors say he can have visitors but it might be a while yet." Kono looked at he cousin and then leant against the wall next to him. Chin tried to get comfortable in the chair.

"Ok well I guess we just stay with Steve until we can see Danny, then one of us will stay with each of them" said Chin his logical mind kicking in.

"Yeah I guess so," said Kono quietly, "I hope we can see Danny before Steve wakes up, I wouldn't know what to tell him right now." Chin nodded in agreement.

We can just wait out here for a bit, let Steve sleep, I'll go get us something to eat, it's been a long day," said Chin thoughtfully. Kono nodded and sat on the floor next to her cousin, putting her face in her hands, trying to take in the day they had just had.

It was beginning to get dark outside and Kono was sat on the chair outside Steve's room fiddling with her watch when the nurse who had updated her on Danny earlier walked along the corridor and stood beside her. Kono stood up bolt upright as quickly as her aching body would let her. "Can I go see Danny?" She asked trying to sound less panicked than she still felt.

"Yes the doctor says you can go down now," the nurse smiled. "He's still in the ICU but we have his blood pressure under control and he appears to be comfortable although he is still unconscious and on the ventilator." The nurse looked around, "where's your friend," she asked.

"Oh he went to get some food, said we should eat" Kono smiled. "What floor is Danny on?"

"He's on floor 7 room 781, he's not allowed more than two visitors at a time though," the nurse finished.

"Thank you," smiled Kono "um about Steve, are we ok to tell him about Danny because he's going to ask, I just wasn't sure how much I should tell him," she rubbed her forehead she needed some help with this situation she didn't want to worry Steve unnecessarily and make his condition worse.

"The doctor said Steve shouldn't have anything to excite or worry him," said the nurse looking into his room. "If he does ask I would just say that Danny's in the ICU and we're waiting for tests results, something to put his mind at ease but he really doesn't need to know the full extent of his friends injuries." Kono followed the nurse's gaze and looked in at Steve who was sleeping soundly.

"Yeah I'm not sure he'd be able to handle the news right now," she said thoughtfully, "thanks for your help," the nurse smiled and walked down the corridor, Kono watched the nurse walk away and saw Chin walking down the corridor towards her, chips and two soda cans in his arms.

"Best I could find" he said nodding down at the food and drink in his arms.

"It's ok" Kono said reaching for soda can, "the nurse just came to update me on Danny, she says we can go see him and that his blood pressure is stable."

Chin popped open his soda relieved that both Steve and Danny were now stable "I'll stay here with Steve and you can go see him first," said Chin gulping down the cold soda, he could see the worry in her eyes and he knew the only way Kono would feel better was if she saw Danny for herself. Kono smiled at her cousin.

"Thanks," She said, "I'll come back in a bit and give you an update, then in the morning we'll work out a rota so we can make sure one of us is always here for them, and we also have the small task on telling Rachel what's happened at some point," she said rubbing her forehead. Chin nodded.

"Let's just try and get through tonight first, we'll worry about that in the morning." He got up and hugged Kono, "you go see Danny I'll go sit back in Steve's room, come back in a little bit and tell me how he's doing." Kono buried her head in his shoulder embracing the hug, and then turned and made her way to elevator, hoping that she would have good news to bring back to Chin.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for the reviews! I'm sorry this chapter has taken a little longer than the others, but I hope you enjoy it!_

Kono walked slowly along the corridor of the 7th floor, looking for room 781. She was eager to see Danny but had slowed her pace when it dawned on her that as she looked into the other rooms, and saw people with tubes and wires everywhere that Danny was going to look like them as well, it made her nervous. Nervous for what the future would hold for Danny, and if he could make a full recovery, and nervous about how she would react when she saw him. She stopped outside the door when she found room 781 and composed herself. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The room was bright and it took Kono's eyes a moment to adjust from the darker dimly lit corridor she had just come from. She looked towards her right to the bed Danny was in. She stood frozen for a second and covered her open mouth with her hand. There were tubes and wires everywhere, and in the middle of it all was Danny he looked so small and almost insignificant amongst all the machines and wires. She took a couple of steps closer to him taking in everything around her. There was a monitor like in Steve's room that had the steady beep of Danny's heart rate, there were other numbers on the screen, but she didn't know what they meant. She looked down at Danny, he had a hospital gown on but it was loose around his chest so that all the tubes and wires could be exposed if needed, and there was a blanket covering him from his waist down. There were round pads on his chest and she knew they were monitoring his heart rate, she could also see a large bandage on Danny's right side and a clear tube, she guessed this was the chest tube that had helped re-inflate Danny's lung. She pulled up a seat on the left hand side of Danny and took his hand there was an IV in it and she could see a slight bruise forming. She rubbed his hand gently looking up at his closed eyes. His mouth was slightly open with the ventilator tube protruding out; it led to another machine, which made a slight noise as it pushed air into his lungs. She noted the bandage around his head, and remembered all the blood that had covered his head and face as he had sat in the car, his hair still had a red tinge to it. She leant her elbows on the bed and brought Danny's hand up to her forehead leaning against it. "It's going to be ok Danny." She said gently, trying to reassure herself as well as him, she wasn't sure how much he could hear, but she need to break the silence and it made her feel better. She wasn't used to Danny being so still, she was used to his arms waving around and his daily rants. To have him be so completely still without a sound unnerved her.

Kono was leant on the bed eyes closed, still holding Danny's hand when she heard the door open, she looked up to see a smiling nurse walking over to her. "I'm nurse Rose." She said quietly, "I've just come to check on Detective Williams."

Kono smiled a weak smile, "I'm Kono, I'm in Five-0 with Danny." She said, placing his arm down gently at his side and standing up. "Is there any update on his condition, when can be come off the ventilator?"

The nurse picked up the chart from the end of Danny's bed and began making notes, "the neurologist will come by soon and review Detective Williams, he will probably send him for a CT scan which will be able to tell us if the bruising and swelling has gone down in his brain."

Kono nodded, looking up at the clock and realised it was nearly 6am; she needed to go and give Chin and update and see how Steve was doing. "I'm just going to go give an update to my cousin, and check on Danny's partner, I'll be back in about an hour, we're going to try and make sure one of us is always with each of them." She said to the nurse, the nurse placed the chart down.

"There is always a nurse around monitoring Detective Williams." She said, you look as though you need some rest you should go home and get some sleep, I can have someone contact you with any news."

Kono rubbed her eyes "I'm not sure either of us would be able to sleep if we did go home." She said the nurse nodded as she pressed a button on a machine and walked towards the door.

"The neurologist usually starts rounds at seven AM, so Detective Williams may be down having his CT scan when you next come up to visit him" she said opening the door.

"Ok." nodded Kono also making her way to the door, she turned and looked back at Danny, "I'll be back later." She said and gently closed the door behind her.

Kono slowly walked along the fifth floor corridor, he body ached from sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Sunlight was gently streaming through the window behind the nurses station and she smiled at the nurse at the desk as she walked past. She gently opened the door to Steve's room, seeing Chin asleep in the chair; his head back at an awkward angle. She closed the door behind her quietly, wanting to let her cousin sleep, but he was only sleeping lightly and on hearing the sound opened his eyes. "How's Danny?" he said his voice hoarse.

"He's still unconscious and on the ventilator." She said looking warily at Steve. "The nurse said that the neurologist would be doing his rounds soon and probably send him for a CT scan to see if the swelling and bruising has gone down." She pulled over a chair and sat next to Chin. "How's Steve?" She asked looking at his bruised pale face.

"He hasn't woken up yet, slept right though, the nurse came in a little while ago, she said it was a good thing and his body needed all the rest it could get." Kono nodded and looked back at Chin, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted, she knew he didn't want to leave the hospital either but wondered if they would be more use to Danny and Steve if they actually got some sleep.

Kono took a deep breath "do you think we should follow their lead and go get some rest ourselves? She asked.

Chin rubbed his eyes and looked over at Steve, "yeah I guess if Steve's sleeping and Danny's having his scans, we might be able to go back to mine for a couple of hours." He said thoughtfully. "We could ask the nurses to ring us as soon as Steve wakes up or they get Danny's test results, from my place we could be back here in fifteen minutes if we needed to."

Kono stood up "let's go now." she said, "I don't want to be gone for too long."

"Neither do I" Chin added "we'll aim to get back here for about ten AM, that's about 3 hours, but at least we'll get some sleep in a bed, and three hours will be better than 10 hours in one of these chairs." He said motioning to the chair he was sat in.

They made their way out to the nurses station, Kono looking back at Steve, making sure he was still sleeping soundly. "We're going to go get some rest for a bit." she said to the nurse who had treated her so kindly the night before, "but we'll be back in a couple of hours, here's my cell number, can you contact us if Steve wakes up or if you hear anything about Danny?" she asked. The nurse took the paper from Kono.

"Of course I can." She smiled, I will obtain hourly information on Detective Williams and contact you if there is any change." Kono smiled at her and looked at her name badge.

"Thank you nurse Lee we'll be back soon." She called as they made their way to the elevator.

Kono looked at her watch, it was nine fifty five, she and Chin had gone back to his place grabbed something to eat and taken showers and managed to get some sleep for a couple of hours too. Kono was surprised by how refreshed she felt after just a few hours sleep. They walked through the hospital doors towards the elevator to got check on Steve.

Kono headed for Steve's room as Chin walked up the nurses station. "Anything to update us on?" he asked nurse Lee who was putting away some files she turned to face him.

"I have just received an update from nurse Rose who is taking care of Danny." She said picking up a pen from the table, "he has just returned from his CT scan and the doctor is going to review the scans in the next hour or so but at the moment there is still no change in his condition."

"Thanks." said Chin "one of us will go up to see him in a little while, has there been any change with Steve?" Before nurse Lee could answer Kono came running out of Steve's room.

"I think he's waking up," she shouted as she ran back through the swinging door to his room.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope you like this next chapter._

Kono ran back into Steve's room; nurse Lee and Chin following closely behind. Kono looked at Steve, his eyelids were flickering and he moved his hand up to his forehead. Nurse Lee ran past Kono and gently took Steve's hand, bringing it back down to his side. She kept a hold of his hand and asked, "Steve, if you can hear me squeeze my hand." Chin and Kono looked intently at Steve's hand as it moved and squeezed her hand gently. She tapped his hand "good, that's good, can you open your eyes for me?" Steve's eyes slowly opened, it took him a minute but he managed to get them fully open, he looked at Chin and Kono and then back at nurse Lee.

Steve took a couple of gulps and then hoarsely asked "Danny, how's Danny?" Nurse Lee looked over at Chin and Kono, they were stood in the middle of the room, still taking in the fact that Steve was awake. She walked over to them.

"He might be a bit confused and groggy for a while," she said "he doesn't need any unnecessary stress." Both Chin and Kono looked at her and nodded silently. "I'm going to go get the doctor, he'll want to check him over fully I'll be back with him soon," she said, and walked out of the room quickly.

Kono walked up to Steve and sat on the chair at his side, Steve turned his head to look at her and she could see the pain and worry in his eyes. "Danny's in ICU, he's pretty banged up," she said. Chin walked over with a glass of water and handed it to Steve.

His throat was sore but the water helped soothe it slightly "thanks." Steve handed the glass back to Chin and looked at Kono. "Ok, so how bad is it?" he asked. Kono took a deep breath.

"They're not sure yet," she said, "He had a CT scan this morning we're just waiting for the doctor to look over it."

"Come on Kono" Steve said a sense of panic in his voice "you must know something, they must have given you some sort of idea of his injuries." He lifted his hand back up and rubbed his forehead, wincing as he came into contact with a slight bump. Kono looked up at her cousin, he knew what she was thinking and nodded Steve needed to know the truth.

"Ok," she said "but you have to promise me that you're going to listen to everything I say, you can't get yourself worked up, the nurse didn't think I should tell you everything," she said quietly.

Steve turned his head further towards Kono "I promise" he said nervously.

"He went into surgery yesterday."

"Wait." Steve stopped her before she could carry on, "so today is Thursday, the accident was yesterday?"

"Yeah you were taken to surgery too, you had internal bleeding and have been asleep ever since the surgery." She had forgotten that Steve wouldn't have known what day it was or how long he had been asleep.

She let Steve take in the information for a second and carried on "Ok so Danny went into surgery yesterday, the doctor said he had so pretty bad internal bleeding, but it's under control now, he had some cracked ribs and one of them punctured his lung, so he has a chest tube." She stopped to look at Steve and gauge his reaction. He was staring her straight in the eyes.

"Carry on," he said she could sense the pain in his voice, but didn't want to hide anything from him despite what the nurses said, Steve and Danny were so close, she couldn't deny him information when she knew he would just worry about it and do himself more damage trying to find out more information. She hoped if she were honest with him now, he would listen to her later when he undoubtedly wanted to see Danny before he was ready to get out of bed.

"He has a bruised and swollen brain," she pushed her hair back and looked straight into Steve's eyes "right now he's on a ventilator, he can't breathe on his own" before Steve could say anything she carried on "but the CT this morning might show that it has gone down and that he can come off the ventilator, one of us will go find the doctor now and see what they know," she finished.

Steve leant back into the pillow, his eyes scrunched up in pain, keeping his head up and his eyes open for that length of time had made the room spin and his head pound, but he wasn't going to show Chin or Kono that until they had told him everything about Danny. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Chin who was stood next to Kono. Steve noted how tired they both looked he took a deep breath trying to hide the amount of pain he was in. "Can one of you go find Danny's doctor, and see what the results were?" he asked pain etched in his voice. Chin patted his hand.

"I'll go now brah," he said and walked towards the door, he saw nurse Lee and a doctor walking down the corridor, and held the door open for them.

Nurse Lee hurried into Steve's room followed by a doctor. "I'm Doctor Reid," he said picking up the folder that was at the end of Steve's bed. I just need to conduct some tests now that you're awake he looked over at Kono. "You may want to wait outside," he said taking a small torch out of his pocket.

"It's ok if she stays." Steve said smiling at Kono she smiled back.

"Ok," said doctor Reid walking around the bed, I just need to check your pupil reaction," he shone his light into each of Steve's eyes "good," he said and Kono smiled. Kono watched as the doctor performed other tests he checked Steve's reactions and memory about the car crash. Steve could remember the impact from the car crash and his brief moments of consciousness in the car, and it hurt Kono to hear the fear come into his voice as he relived it. The doctor then pulled away the blanket that was covering Steve's legs, the gown he was wearing went to mid thigh but Kono couldn't help but gasp as she saw Steve's legs. They were blue and red with bruises covering both of them from his thigh down to his shins. Steve looked down at his legs, his eyes wide, his legs had bee intensely painful in the car, but since waking up a few minutes ago he only had a slight numb throb in them "Your legs were crushed for some time from the impact, your thighs were stuck under the steering wheel and the front of the car came in onto your shins." Explained the doctor. The muscles were bruised and I shouldn't think your legs will take any weight for a couple of days, we can give you stronger pain medication if the pain becomes unbearable, but once the swelling and bruising goes down in the next few days there shouldn't be any long term damage." The doctor pulled the blanket back up and put the folder down on the table. "Any questions?" he asked walking towards the door.

Steve rubbed his eyes tiredly, "no, don't think so," he said closing his eyes. The doctor smiled at Kono and walked out the door.

Nurse Lee who had been stood by the side of Kono nodded at Steve "he'll be tired for most of the day," she said and made her way to the door "if he wakes up and needs any pain medication, come find me at the nurses station," Kono nodded, and got up from the chair, she walked over to nurse Lee.

"I'm going to go find my cousin, see what the news is on Danny Williams, I'll be back as soon as I can," nurse Lee nodded.

Kono was pushing open the door when she heard her name called quietly, Steve was still lying back on the pillows his eyes closed. She walked over to him, "Steve?" she questioned wondering if she had just imagined it. Steve half opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Please can you go find out how Danny is?" his voice was quiet and weak and he could barely keep his eyes open. Kono took his hand and squeezed it.

"You rest here and I will go and find out everything I can," she said placing his hand back down by his side. Steve's eyes were now closed. "I'll be back as soon as I can she said." She pushed the door open and ran to the elevator.

Kono walked quickly along the corridor, not wanting to leave Steve for too long. She found Chin stood outside Danny's room looking in through the window "What did the doctor say?" she asked.

"Nurse Rose has just gone to get him," Chin said, still not looking away. Then Kono remembered that Chin had yet to see Danny in the ICU, she rubbed his arm, his eyes still didn't move away from the window.

"He's going to be ok," she said determination in her voice, "we'll make sure he's ok," Chin looked at her.

"I hope so," he said quietly.

They both turned as they heard the sound of footsteps along the corridor. Nurse Rose walked up to them a doctor to the side of her. "This is Doctor Allen, she has just reviewed the CT scan of Detective Williams." She said, and moved over to the nurse's station, Doctor Allen shook both of their hands.

"Well the news is good," she said the cousins smiled and let out sighs of relief. "It appears the swelling is going down, we are going to conduct some other tests to determine if he is ready to be taken off the ventilator, but hopefully if all goes well he should be off the ventilator later on this afternoon or this evening." The doctor smiled at the cousins. "I'm sorry but I have another patient to see, but the nurse should be able to answer any questions and I will be back later to check on Detective Williams," she said smiling at them again and making her way to the elevator. Kono hugged Chin tightly.

"See I told you he was going to be ok," she smiled her eyes lighting up. Chin hugged her back but didn't say anything. "What's wrong?" she asked, "didn't you hear the doctor?"

Chin nodded "I just don't want to get my hopes up too high yet, he still has to wake up" he said worry in his voice.

"Come on cuz, he's come this far, he's going to be ok," Kono said turning away and looking into Danny's room, she wanted Chin to be as pleased about the news as her. Nurse Rose walked up to the cousins.

"I saw Doctor Allen leave did you have any questions that she didn't have time to answer?"

Chin looked at her "once Danny is taken off the ventilator, how long should it be until he wakes up?" nurse Rose could sense the tension between the cousins and the worry in Chin's voice.

"All going well we would expect him to wake up in the next couple of days but every patient is different." Chin nodded slowly. Kono turned from looking into Danny's room and walked up to them.

"Can we stay with Danny?" she asked.

"Yes you can, but only for a little while, there are a range of tests that need to be conducted that will take some time, and you can't be in the room for those," nurse Rose said turning to go check on another patient.

"Thanks," said Kono, as she walked towards the door to Danny's room. "I promised Steve I'd give him an update, but I just want to check on Danny myself first," she said. Chin turned to look at her.

"I'll go back to Steve's room, and tell him the good news," he smiled, he didn't want to get too excited about the news, he knew Danny had a long way to go yet, but he didn't want to fall out with Kono when they needed each other. Kono smiled back.

"I'll come back down in a bit, then we really need to tell Rachel about this," she said looking at her watch, it was twelve PM and she knew they couldn't leave it much longer.

Chin looked at his cousin who was halfway into Danny's room "at least he wasn't supposed to have Grace this weekend, hopefully by this time next week he'll be in a fit state to see her," he said thoughtfully.

Kono thought of Grace, she hoped that the thought of his daughter would bring Danny back to them, and that the little girl wouldn't have to see him in the ICU connected to all the machines. She pushed the door into Danny's room and closed it quietly behind her, the noises of the machines that were keeping Danny alive seemed louder this time, and as she pulled up a seat next to him she took his hand in hers. "You have to wake up, think of Grace, that little girl needs her Danno," she said letting her emotions get the better of her as a single tear rolled down her cheek.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them! Just a note to say I have only seen up to episode 17 of season 1, so my story is based on everything I've seen up to there relationship wise, I'm watching the UK airings of Hawaii Five-0 and it is taking all of my will power to avoid searching to see what happens in the season finale! Anyway I hope you enjoy!_

Chin walked back into Steve's room. He leant on the end of the bed looking at Steve his eyes closed. He walked over to the window.

"How's Danny?" Chin looked back at Steve, his eyes were now open but he could see the pain in them.

"He's getting better brah, doc says that they're going to try and get him off the ventilator today," Steve nodded.

"When will he wake up?" he asked, rubbing his eyes, trying to keep them open.

"Hopefully in the next couple of days," Chin said walking over to him and pulling up a chair. "But the doctor says everyone's different, so we just have to wait and see."

"Is Kono with him now?" Steve asked trying to push his body up to a sitting position taking a sharp intake of breathe.

Chin stood up and arranged the pillows behind Steve so he could lean back on them, "yeah the doctor said she could stay a little while but she has to leave when they're doing the tests to see if he can come off the ventilator, so she'll be back down here soon." He said smiling and sitting back in the chair as Steve tried to get into a comfortable position. "Do you need some more pain medication?" he asked looking at Steve's scrunched up eyes and his shallow breathing.

"No I'm ok." Steve said trying to force a smile, Chin wasn't sure if he should believe him or not, but decided to leave it for now, knowing that Nurse Lee would be back soon and would probably top up his pain medication anyway.

Kono had stayed with Danny for about half an hour until Doctor Allen walked into his room. She smiled at Kono "we're going to try and take Danny off the ventilator now" she said "I've got a couple of other doctors coming to make sure he is comfortable and that he is ready, but I will get a message to you as soon as we have any news," she smiled and walked over the end of Danny's bed, picking up a folder. Kono nodded.

"Thanks," she said, and gently patted Danny's hand as she got up to leave, taking one last look at him before she walked out of the room.

Kono walked back into Steve's room holding three bottles of water, she handed one to Chin and put the second on the table next to Steve. She sat down in the chair next to Steve, the opposite side to Chin she opened her bottle of water and looked at Steve, she could see the question in his eyes and before he had time to open his mouth she answered what he was going to ask. "They're going to try and take him off the ventilator now," she said smiling "Doctor Allen is going to update us with any news as soon as she can."

"Ok" Steve said. "Did she say how long it would take?"

"No, but I'm guessing it might be a while," Kono said taking a sip of water. "Doctor Allen will let us know as soon as she can, she knows how worried we are."

Steve leant back into the pillows closing his eyes and took a deep breath, he winched as a pain radiated around his ribcage. He hated being so reliant on other people, he knew that Chin and Kono would do anything for him and Danny, but right now he wanted to be by Danny's side, he wanted to be able to check on his partner himself, having to rely on information second half was hard for him. He wasn't going to let Chin and Kono know but he felt responsible for what had happened to Danny, if only he would have react quicker or checked the crossroads earlier, he might have been able to avoid the situation they found themselves in, the guilt had been eating him up inside ever since he had first opened his eyes and found himself in the hospital, if Danny didn't come back from this he didn't know if he could live with himself. Steve heard the door to his room open, and opened his eyes, hoping for some news on Danny. Nurse Lee walked into the room, and saw the three sets of expected eyes on her. "No news yet," she said walking over to Steve's side, "but I will let you know as soon as I hear anything, I'm just here to top up your pain medication," she said looking at Steve and injecting something into the IV that was hanging above his bed. Steve nodded.

"When do you think I'll be able to get out of here?" he asked Nurse Lee as she updated his medical folder.

"Why do you ask?" She asked surprised.

"Well I've been in hospital for concussion a few times," he said leaning forward.

Nurse Lee smiled, "why am I not surprised by that?"

He smiled weakly, "well the swelling in legs is going down and I only needed to be observed for the concussion overnight, so really I should be able to go home tomorrow," he said expectantly.

"I'll talk to the doctor," she said putting the folder down, "you might be discharged tomorrow, or they might want to wait until the weekend, you may not be able to put any weight on your legs until then, and we need to make sure those cuts and bruises don't become infected," she said leaving the room.

Steve leant back and rubbed his forehead in frustration. If he could get discharged them he could go up and see Danny, he didn't want to wait any longer than he already had to see his partner. Chin interrupted his thoughts.

"Why do you want to get out of here so soon?"

"I don't need to be here," Steve said annoyed.

"The doctors know what they're doing, if they say you need to stay a couple more days than you should," he said. Steve knew Chin and the nurse were right, the throbbing in his legs had increased in the past few minutes, the pain medication had obviously not yet kicked in, and he couldn't imagine trying to put weight on them today, but it still didn't mean he was any less frustrated by the situation. He closed his eyes and decided the best thing he could do whilst they waited for an update on Danny was sleep.

Steve felt like he had just closed his eyes for a second but when he opened them and looked at the clock he realised it was four PM and he'd been asleep for nearly three hours. He moved uncomfortably in the bed trying to move his neck, which had gone stiff. He looked over at Chin who was sleeping quietly, and then rubbed his neck and looked over towards Kono; she looked at him with tired eyes and smiled. "Have you heard anything about Danny?" he asked, worried that it had been three hours and they hadn't heard anything.

"Nurse Lee just came by a second ago, she said she had an update but had to go check on a patient, but that she'd be back in about five minutes to tell us how he was doing," she said standing up and checking her watch. Steve watched her as she paced up and down his room, he could feel the worry radiating off he, he hoped the news would be good and sat up in anticipation.

Nurse Lee entered Steve's room looking flustered; Chin stirred when he heard her come in and sat up quickly in the chair rubbing his eyes.

Kono walked over to her, "how's Danny? Is he off the ventilator? Can we go see him?" She couldn't help but blurt out all the questions at once.

She smiled "he is stable, the doctors managed to get him off the ventilator and he was sent for another CT scan the swelling in his brain is almost gone and the bruising will go down of it's own accord in the next few days, you can go and see him now, but you have to remember we still don't know when he will wake up." Kono nodded she understood that it would be a while before Danny was back to normal, but the fact that he had come off the ventilator could only be seen as a step in the right direction. Nurse Lee nodded over towards Steve, "how are you managing your pain, I can top up the pain medication if you need it?"

"No it's fine thanks," he knew Chin and Kono would be able to detect the lie in his voice but hoped they wouldn't say anything, the less he needed medical help the quicker he could get out of his room to see Danny.

Nurse Lee made her way towards the door, "ok but if you do need any just press your call button and I'll come by and top it up." She said leaving the room in a hurry.

Kono looked over at Chin, knowing that now Danny was off the ventilator they had to tell Rachel what had happened. Steve looked between Chin and Kono, they had some sort of look between them, and he panicked that they were keeping something about Danny from him. He sat up and stared at Kono. "What is it? What does that look mean?"

Kono pushed her hair back and looked at Steve, "we haven't told Rachel about Danny, we've been putting it off, but we can't leave it much longer."

Steve was relieved that they hadn't been keeping anything about Danny's condition from him and rubbed his hand across his mouth. "I'll tell her," he said looking up at Kono.

Kono frowned, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"Why? I've met her when we did that stake out at her house, at least it'll be a voice she recognizes" he rationed. Kono looked over at Chin doubtfully, he shrugged his shoulders not knowing what to say, it made sense, Rachel had never met him or Kono, but Steve was still recovering and they couldn't be sure as to how Rachel would react to the information.

Steve looked at Kono with pleading eyes, he needed some control over the situation and making this call would give him that.

"Ok," she said handing him her cell phone, "but we're staying here when you talk to her." Steve nodded, Kono took out a piece of paper she had written Rachel's number on and handed it to Steve, she sat back down in the chair and took a deep breath.

Steve held the cell phone to his ear and leant back against the pillows waiting to hear Rachel's strong English accent.

"Hello?"

"Rachel, it's Steve, Danny's partner."

Rachel immediately knew something was wrong; she could sense the pain and worry in Steve's voice. "What's happened?" she couldn't be sidetracked by pleasantries.

"There was a car accident," Steve paused "Danny was hurt and he's in the ICU." Steve could hear the quickening of Rachel's breathing and her footsteps pacing on a tiled floor.

"How bad is it?"

"He was taken to surgery, he had swelling to his brain and was placed on a ventilator." He heard her take a sharp intake of breath and the pacing stopped. "But he was taken off the ventilator earlier today, we're just waiting for him to wake up." Steve held the cell phone to his ear tightly waiting for her to respond, it had been about thirty seconds and she still hadn't said anything. "Rachel are you still there?"

"Yes, yes I'm here" she said hurriedly. "Have the doctors said when he is expected to wake up?"

Steve leant back taking a deep breathe, "hopefully in the next few days," he said. He could hear sniffing and the rustle of what he thought was a pack of tissues. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

There was a long pause and then she answered, "not really," she said honestly, "this is why I hated him being a cop, this call is what I dreaded."

"This wasn't because he was a cop Rachel, it was just" he paused he wanted to tell her it was all his fault and that he was sorry, but he stopped himself "it was just the wrong time and the wrong place," he said, although he didn't believe in what he was telling her. He heard her sniff.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell Grace, she's going to a sleepover this weekend, but she'll know something is wrong she already asked why Danno didn't ring her yesterday, I just thought it was because he was busy with a case and it was too late to call by the time he had finished, I never imagined this," she said sniffing again.

Steve blinked trying to stop the tears that he could feel burning in his eyes from escaping. He didn't know what to say apart from "I'm sorry Rachel."

He heard her sigh, "It isn't your fault," she said, unaware that Steve was even blaming himself for the crash. "I'll tell her that her Danno was hurt but that he'll be able to see her soon, that's all I can do," she said thinking aloud. "Will you keep me updated please?"

"Of course, one of us will call you with any updates," Steve said looking at both Chin and Kono who nodded in agreement.

"Ok, thank you, call my cell, anytime night or day," she said before hanging up.

Steve sat and stared at the screen, he thought of little Grace, she had been oblivious to what had happened to her Danno, but soon she would be feeling the same pain and worry they all were.


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed and put this story on alert! I really appreciate it! I'm so sorry this next chapter has taken so long, I lost my motivation but have set aside my day today to try and get a couple of chapters written and hopefully I won't be so long between updates again!_

Steve blearily opened his eyes, he shifted uncomfortably and looked up at the clock, he was shocked to see it was just gone six AM, to most people that would be early but for Steve it was the longest lie-in he had had for years. He figured the painkillers that nurse Lee had given him last night had made him drowsy and allowed him to sleep peacefully. He edged himself up slowly putting a couple of pillows behind his back before leaning back and taking a deep breathe, which he immediately regretted as he felt his ribs burn in pain. He took a couple of shallow slow breaths and the pain subsided slightly. Kono and Chin had gone home late last night, they hadn't wanted to leave but in the end everyone agreed that it would be best to try and get a good nights sleep and be there for Danny in the morning. Although Kono hadn't left until she had given every nurse and doctor on Steve's and Danny's floor her number, with the strict instructs to call her if Danny so much as twitched, or if Steve tried to leave the hospital without permission.

Kono and Chin had said they would be back at seven AM with the promise of bringing Steve some of his clothes from home. He wasn't prepared to spend another day in a hospital gown. Steve decided it was a good time to try and see how his legs were, without the possibility of anyone interfering and telling him to take it easy. He pulled back the blanket from his legs and inspected them, the swelling had all but gone and the bruising was beginning to move from a dark purple to a light red color. He swung he legs round slowly to the edge of the bed ignoring the pain in his stomach and ribs and slowly edged himself towards the floor, he leant on the bed and pushed himself up. He immediately felt himself sway and his eyesight became blurry. He leant on the bedside table and closed his eyes tightly and waited for the room to stop spinning, after a couple of minutes he was able to slowly open his eyes again and was surprised at how much weight his legs were taking, they ached slightly, but nothing he couldn't handle, he figured lying in bed for 2 days and then getting up as quickly as he had probably brought on the dizziness, but now that had passed he was able to take all of his weight on his legs without the need to lean on anything. He stood there for a few more minutes letting his body become used to being upright again and then took a few tentative steps away from the bed, he was panting slightly although he wasn't sure if that was from the pain in his chest or the effort of walking. He held his arm protectively across his ribs and breathed slowly as he made his way across the length of the room. He decided to make his way slowly back to his bed when the door to his room opened and he saw nurse Lee stood there. She looked him up and down and then walked over without saying anything, she took his arm and slowly lead him back to the bed, letting him sit down gently and turn his body slowly to lean back against the pillows. It was then that she stood over him and scowled down, Steve shone her his best smile but it wasn't working. She walked over to his IV, "that wasn't a very good idea, was it?" She asked angrily, Steve knew better than to reply. "You could have fallen and done more damage to yourself." She turned back from the IV and took out a pen, writing something in his medical file and placing it down on the table with more force than was needed. "If you had wanted to try standing, why didn't you use your buzzer and call for me, I would have been happy to let you try, at least then I would have known what you were doing and I could have helped you if you had been about to fall."

Steve looked sheepishly up at her, he had thought that she wouldn't have let him try standing up and was determined that today he would get out of hospital and be able to go up and see Danny, now it looked like he had angered nurse Lee and ruined his chances of getting out, I bet they keep me in longer now he thought unhappily to himself. He looked up at nurse Lee, "I'm sorry," he said, "I just wanted to test myself, see if my legs could take my weight."

"Well it appears they can," she said her face softening into a slight smile, "you might be able to leave us today after all."

Steve looked up his eyes bright. "Really? Even after that stunt?"

"I don't think we're going to be able to keep you here much longer now that you can get about," she smiled "I'll get the doctor to check you over and if everything is ok, and if your pain is manageable with oral painkillers this afternoon, then I might let you leave this evening. I'll come by and remove that IV later and then send the doctor in this afternoon," she said as she left Steve's room.

Steve lent back smiling, finally he was going to be able to get out, he would be able to see Danny and not have to rely on others. He heard his door open and Chin and Kono walked in.

Kono walked in and tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked at Steve, "why are you smiling?" She asked apprehensively as she placed a bag on the spare chair by the door and walked over to Steve handing him a bottle of orange juice.

"What can't someone be happy on a sunny morning?" he asked still smiling.

"Not when yesterday you were moaning about being here, did they slip you something in that IV last night?" Kono asked smiling back.

"I can get out of here this evening," Steve said motioning with his hands around the room.

Chin who had walked over to the window and pulled up the blind letting in the sunlight walked over to him. "Really? That's great news brah, but what about your legs, do you want us to help you try and stand?"

"Nope alright have and I passed with flying colors," Steve smiled, "just need to get checked out by the doctor and I should be up with Danny sometime this evening."

Chin and Kono looked at each other, Chin sat down in the chair and rubbed his hand across his forehead slowly. "I think when they release you they plan on you going home and recuperating, not starting a bedside vigil in these uncomfortable hospital chairs." Chin said quietly. He knew that it was going to be near enough impossible to keep Steve away from Danny now, but he couldn't watch his friend take one step forward and two steps back, jeopardizing his recovery.

Steve looked at both Chin and Kono and could see that they were worried. He signed deeply and had to resist the urge to clutch at his chest, if they saw one reason to drive him home and keep guard at his front door to stop him from leaving he knew they would take it. He knew they were worried about him and were just looking out for him, but there was no way he was going to be able to rest at home knowing Danny was still in ICU at the hospital. He couldn't be anywhere else than with his partner. He motioned over to the bag that Kono had placed on the chair. "Are those my clothes?" He asked appreciatively.

Kono nodded picking up the bag, and handing it to Steve. "Cargo pants and a t-shirt," she said quietly. Steve knew he was going to have to allay their fears about him going up to see Danny.

He took the bag and put it on his bedside table. "Thanks," he shifted himself up slightly and looked at both Chin and Kono. "You don't need to worry, I'm fine, my legs can hold my weight and the swelling has nearly gone, Nurse Lee says there is no sign of infection from my surgery and they're taking me off the IV this afternoon. There is nothing for you guys to worry about, I am able to decide what I do when I'm discharged, and I'm sure both of you can understand my need to go and see Danny." The cousins looked at each other again.

Kono sat down beside Steve, "I know you're on the mend, but you're not fully healed, and we just don't want you doing more damage because you were in a rush to get out of here to see Danny."

"But I'm not in a rush, I'm waiting until the doctor discharges me and I can tell you that is a rarity I'm usually signing out AMA a few hours after being admitted," he said hoping to lighted the mood.

Kono smiled, "I know, but you have to take care of your own health as well, if you're in pain or your legs start swelling up, you tell us, you need to be able to trust us enough to do that."

Steve nodded, "I do, I just need to see Danny with my own two eyes." He wasn't sure how he would feel after seeing Danny, if he would feel even more protective and wouldn't want to leave his side, or if he would be able to go home and rest and allow Chin and Kono to look after them both. But he felt right now that it would be the former, he hadn't been able to be there for Danny for the past two days, and the feeling in his gut was telling him that he shouldn't leave his partners side until he woke up, however long that may be.


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you everyone who is still reading! I hope you like this next chapter._

It was early evening and Steve sat back down on his bed, he had changed into his normal clothes and was trying to lean over and put on his socks but his chest protested at every movement forward, he was trying to work out how he was going to get them on when Kono walked back into the room. He held the socks up and smiled sheepishly at her, "Could I get a little help please?" He knew when to ask for help, and there was no way he was going to be able to bend down and get them on.

Kono smiled and without a word took this socks from his hand and helped him put them and his boots on. She stood up and sat down in the chair across from him. "How are you feeling?" she wanted an honest answer so never once looked away from Steve wanting to note any change in his features.

Steve looked at Kono and couldn't help but smile at her serious face. "I'm ok, my chest aches, but nurse Lee said that was to be expected now that I'm on a lower dose of painkillers, nothing I can't handle." He finished with another smile. He knew he had to keep on top of his pain and had mentally made of note of when he was scheduled to take his medication, knowing that they would take longer to work than the IV painkillers.

Kono smiled back "your painkillers are in your bag, so I'll bring that up to Danny's room with you once you're discharged then you'll have them nearby, Chin should be back in a minute, he went to get some burgers for us."

Steve nodded appreciatively and packed the rest of his belongs in his bag. "Has there been any news on Danny?"

Kono sighed, "No nothing, they say he'll wake up in his own time, and that we have to be patient." She turned around to smile at Chin as he walked into the room with three burgers and fries.

Steve was just finishing his burger as nurse Lee walked into his room with his discharge papers. Steve took the papers from her and signed them quickly. "Thanks for everything" he said as he passed her back the papers and pen.

Nurse Lee smiled, "I just hope I won't be seeing you again, take care of yourself." She then turned to Kono and Chin who were stood at the bedside, "don't let him push himself too hard, his body still needs to recover, make sure he rests and takes his pain meds." Chin and Kono nodded.

"Don't worry, he _will_ be resting and taking it easy I will make sure of it." Kono said glaring at Steve.

Steve stood up, he waited a couple of seconds to give his legs a chance to adjust to bearing weight again and then all three of them then made their way to the elevator together. Chin and Kono walked either side of him making sure they were close by if Steve needed them. They exchanged worried glances as he made it to the elevator and waited for it to arrive panting heavily and clutching at his ribs, they could see the pained expression etched over his face and the beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Steve walked slowly along the corridor taking shallow quick breathes, he felt exhausted and could feel his ribs burning with each breathe he took, he stole a quick look at his watch, nineteen thirty two, just eighteen more minutes until he could take some more pain meds. He didn't need to look to know that Chin and Kono were either side of him, they had been quiet since he had left his room, but he knew they would be swapping looks between them. He had tried to hide his pain but he could almost feel Kono burning a hole through his head the way she was looking him, so there was no use in trying to hide it. He was still holding his ribs as he walked, the bruising making it hard to pull a full breath into his lungs.

The silence was broken by Chin's calm voice, "this is Danny's room" he said taking a hold of Steve's arm and steadying him as he turned to face the door. Steve nodded and Kono pushed the door open slowly, walking in ahead of Steve, Chin kept a hold of Steve's arm and helped him through the door. Kono watched as his eyes rested on Danny, and she saw his face drain of the little color it had. She could see the pain and worry in his eyes. Steve took a couple of quick shallow breaths, and tried to swallow down the lump which had formed in his throat. "Hey brah you ok?" Chin looked at Steve and held on to his arm tightly leading him to the chair at Danny's side. "Just take a seat, catch your breathe, I know it's overwhelming but we just need to give him some time, he'll wake up." Steve nodded slowly taking some deeper breaths; he hoped Chin was right, seeing Danny so still and silent felt so wrong. Steve leant forward ignoring the burning in his chest he leant out and touched Danny's hand.

"Hey Danno, you can stop giving us the silent treatment now, we're all here, me, Chin and Kono, so why don't you wake up for us?" He looked at Danny's closed eyes intently, hoping to see just the slightest of flickers, nothing. He signed rubbing his hands across his forehead and closing his eyes. Chin placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently, it comforted Steve knowing they were all together again and he looked up and smiled weakly at Chin.

All three of them sat around Danny's bed, taking it in turns to talk to him. Steve had taken his pain medication and was dozing in the chair uncomfortably. Chin leant in closely to Kono so he could speak quietly without disturbing Steve. "He looks awful," he said motioning with his head to Steve who had his head at an awkward angle with his eyes tightly shut his arms in a protective barrier around his chest.

Kono nodded "I know, he needs to be comfortable in a bed and resting, not sat upright in a chair, but I don't think we're going to be able to convince him to leave," she said keeping her voice quiet and looking with concern at both Danny and Steve.

"Then we don't convince him, we tell him." Chin said with conviction. "We'll tell him to go home tonight, you take him back to his house and stay with him, I'll stay here with Danny and if anything happens I'll call, then at least you'll get some rest and he can put his legs up in bed for a while, he won't admit it but he needs to sleep properly so he can heal."

Kono rubbed her eyes and stood up, she walked over to Steve tapping him lightly on the shoulder. Steve winced as he adjusted himself in the chair "I know, you want me to go home and get some rest, but I'm not leaving Danny." he opened his eyes in the now darken room, lit only by a lamp in the corner and looked up at Kono. She smiled; she had suspected their boss had been listening to their conversation.

"Just for a few hours, Chin will call if anything happens, you're going to be no use to Danny when he wakes up if you're exhausted and in pain," she said wisely putting her hands on her hips.

Steve knew she was right, but he had waited all this time to see his partner and then he had walked in and found him in such a vulnerable state he couldn't just abandon him again. He wasn't leaving Danny, not yet. He looked over at Danny, feeling his breathe catch in his throat as he looked at machines and the pale face of his partner amongst it all. "Just a couple more hours, when I'm next due to take my pain medication, then we'll leave."

Kono couldn't resist the pleading look in Steve's eyes, "alright so that will be at 11 PM so you've got two more hours, then I am taking you home, even if I have to get a nurse to drug you and drag you out to the car!" Kono hated to break up the 5-0 team when they had only been back together for a couple of hours but she could see Steve's pale complexion and the pain etched across his face and knew that he had to heal too.

The team had sat quietly in Danny's room for the past two hours, both Chin and Kono stole glances at Steve, he had sat almost silent for the past two hours staring attentively at Danny, wanting to notice any faint movement or sign that Danny was waking up, but nothing had happened, he had stayed worryingly still. Steve sighed as he looked at his watch realizing it was eleven ten, he slowly edged himself to his feet, he knew he needed to sleep, he trusted Chin to call if anything happened, and if he was honest, was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed. He walked over to Danny's bedside and reached down rubbing the top of Danny's arm, "Kono and I are going to go get some rest for a few hours, but Chin is going to stay here with you, and I'll be back in the morning Danny." He tapped Danny's hand gently, and was about to walk away, when something caught his eye, he looked down at Danny's hand. Danny's index finger slowly moved, he stared down intently, afraid to even blink in case he missed it again. But as he watched Danny's whole hand began to move and as he looked up at Danny's face he could see his eyelids flickering. Steve could feel his heart pounding and his eyes burning from refusing to blink. Kono and Chin had both rushed to be at either side of Steve as soon as they had seen him stare down at Danny's hand in amazement, and all three of them were now staring down at Danny. Steve's hands were shaking as he slowly picked up Danny's hand and clearing his throat said nervously "Danny squeeze my hand if you can hear me." All three sets of eyes moved down to the pale scratched hand in Steve's.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts! I know I said I would try and be quicker with updates, but lately life seems to be getting in the way and I haven't been able to spend as much time writing as I would like! But hopefully this chapter was worth the wait! I don't know how any American readers are coping without Hawaii Five-0! The finale airs here tonight in the UK and I'm already wondering what I'm supposed to do with my Sunday nights without Five-0!_

Steve held his breath as he looked down and then he felt it, Danny squeezed his hand, it was gentle and weak but it was there. Steve looked at Chin and Kono's smiling faces and smiled back at them. Chin moved away from the bed, "I'll go get the doctor," he said as he rushed out through the doors to the corridor.

Steve still held Danny's hand as he spoke to him, his voice quiet, "Danny can you open your eyes," he looked at Danny's pale face and could see the eyelids flickering, he waited about thirty seconds before asking again, "Danny try and open your eyes." Still nothing, Steve sighed, the excitement from Danny squeezing his hand quickly fading.

"It'll probably take him a while boss," Kono said sensing Steve's anxiousness, "he has been unconscious for a while."

Both turned around as they heard the door open and Chin walked in explaining to Doctor Allen that Danny was beginning to wake up and had squeezed Steve's hand. Doctor Allen walked over to the opposite side of the bed, allowing Steve to keep a hold of Danny's hand, she smiled, "I hear we might be making some progress," she said as she walked over to Danny. She took out a torch and shone it in Danny's eyes and nodded as she put in back in her pocket, she took Danny's hand. "Danny, it's Doctor Allen, you're waking up from a coma, can you squeeze my hand if you can hear me." The three members looked at Danny's hand in Doctor Allen's and held their breath. All four of them stood their waiting, but Danny didn't squeeze her hand. She placed his hand back down at his side and walked over picking up his medical file, which was at the end of the bed.

Steve's legs were throbbing but he wasn't letting go of Danny's hand, he hated seeing his partner like this and wanted Danny to know he was here for him, however long it took. Doctor Allen put the folder down and scratched her forehead thoughtfully. She looked over at Steve, "Steve ask him to squeeze your hand, don't say anything else, just ask him to squeeze it."

Steve nodded and squeezing Danny's hand gently hoping to get his attention asked him softly, "Danny squeeze my hand." He held Danny's limp hand and watched and waited, about twenty seconds had passed but then Danny's hand moved unmistakably and squeezed Steve's hand, and this time the grip was stronger. Steve smiled and let out a sigh of relief. He looked over at Doctor Allen who was also smiling.

"He obviously recognizes your voice, just remember he's still weak, and waking up from a coma isn't like waking up from a good nights sleep, the brain needs to slowly wake up and that can take time and happens in stages. Nurse Rose will be around tonight if he does respond to anything else or opens his eyes, otherwise I will be around in the morning. Just keep talking to him." She picked up Danny's folder and wrote a few quick notes before smiling at the three relieved members of Five-0 and leaving the room.

Kono looked over at Steve and could see he was struggling to stay upright; she pulled over a chair placing it behind Steve and gently helped lower him into it. Steve still hadn't let go of Danny's hand, and he subconsciously rubbed his thumb across the top of Danny's hand being mindful not to push down on the multitude of bruises, which covered it. Kono and Chin moved over to the other side of the bed sitting down tiredly in the hospital chairs. Know knowing that Danny could hear his voice Steve talked about anything and everything, the weather, a new bar that was opening, a surfing competition that was coming to the island later that month. Anything he could think of, he didn't care if Danny wasn't interested in it, he just needed Danny to know he was there and hoped he would be comforted someway in hearing his voice. He also hoped if he annoyed Danny enough he might wake up and open his eyes just to tell him to shut up, the thought made him smile, he would love to hear Danny moaning and ranting at him right now.

Steve didn't realize how long he had been talking to Danny until he looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was two AM. Kono was dozing in the chair opposite him and Chin was rubbing his hands across his eyes. He looked over at Steve. "You alright brah?"

Steve looked across at him and sighed, "yeah, I just hate all this waiting and not knowing."

Chin nodded, "me too, he'll come back to us when he's ready, he just needs some more time to heal." Chin noted Steve's bloodshot tired eyes and the unrelenting but gentle grip he had of Danny's hand. "How are you feeling, do you need your pain meds?"

Steve gently shook his head. "I'm ok," The throbbing in his legs had become a slight ache since he had sat down, and as long as he didn't move quickly the pain in his ribs and chest was bearable. Chin nodded and stood up.

"I'm going to go get some coffee, you want some?"

Steve rubbed his one free hand across his eyes suddenly noticing how tired he felt, "yeah coffee sounds good thanks." He watched as Chin quietly left the room, He sighed again and looked up at Danny. "Come on Danny, it's time to wake up, I'm not sitting here for days on end, you've got to come back to us." Steve felt Danny's hand move again and slowly lifted himself to his feet, "that's it Danny, open your eyes." Danny's eyes flickered again and then he groaned softly, "Danny? Can you hear me? Open your eyes." Steve raised his voice and saw Kono rub her eyes sleepily and look up; she saw the anticipation in Steve's eyes and immediately stood up taking Danny's other hand. Danny groaned again pushing his head back into the pillow, his eyes flickered again and then Steve saw what he had been waiting all night for, Danny's bright blue but confused eyes looking back up at him. "Hey," Steve said softly he never took his eyes off Danny's and watched as Danny tried to focus his eyes and get his bearings. "You're in the hospital, we were in a car crash a couple of days ago."

Danny looked up at a shape which was directly above him, he blinked a couple of times trying to get his eyes to focus, it took a couple of frantic blinks but finally the shape turned into that of a person. Someone was staring down at him with a goofy smile on their face. His lips were moving but Danny didn't have the energy to try and listen to what he was saying, he felt his eyelids dropping down and then the voice that he was sure he recognized but couldn't remember got louder, he forced himself to open his eyes again and try and listen to what the person was saying. He caught a few words, 'hospital', 'crash' and 'keep open'. If they were trying to get him to keep his eyes open there was no way that was happening, he felt someone tugging at his hand and then squeezing it, and as the voice got louder he let his eyelids drop and let sleep engulf him.

Steve tugged on Danny's hand, "Come on Danny, keep your eyes open." But it was too late, Danny had looked up at him with confusion as he had tried to explain why he was in the hospital, Steve wasn't even sure if he was listening or could understand, and then his eyelids had slowly closed and Danny was gone again, back to wherever he had been for the past three days. Steve lowered himself back into the chair; he let go of Danny's hand so he could rest his head in both his hands. Kono came over placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to take time, at least he's opened his eyes."

Steve took his head out of his hands and looked up at Kono, "but he looked so confused, like he couldn't understand what I was saying, and he didn't try to say anything."

"He's not going to wake up straight away, the doctor said it was going to happen in stages, and that was just the first stage, the next time he wakes up he'll probably try and talk or be slightly more alert."

Steve knew Kono was right, and that he had to look at this as a slow process, Danny wasn't going to wake up straight away. But he just wished he could have heard Danny's voice, just so that he knew his partner really was there and could understand him. Until that happened he couldn't trust that Danny was going to fully recover from this, he had heard stories of people waking up and forgetting people and their lives before the accident, he felt a knot in his stomach at the thought of Danny not remembering Five-0 or worse his own daughter. He needed confirmation from Danny that he was ok, and he hated having to wait any longer for it, because the longer he waited the more the guilt of the accident consumed him, if his actions meant that Danny was never the same again, he didn't know what he would do.

Chin walked back into Danny's room and could sense the tension immediately, he handed Kono a cup of coffee, Steve was slumped forward in his chair with his head in his hands, and Kono had her hand comfortingly on his back. Chin motioned with his head to Steve. Kono took a sip of the coffee. "Danny opened his eyes, but only for a couple of seconds."

"Well he's making more progress tonight than he has the past few days." Chin said thoughtfully, placing the coffee he had brought Steve on the table nearby.

"He looked confused." Steve said quietly lifting his head up and reaching for the coffee.

"Wouldn't you be? His brain has been resting this whole time, give him a couple of days to get his bearings." Chin said lightly, trying to dispel the tension in the room. He walked over to the other side of the bed, and sat down. From this position he could look at Steve's face, he could saw the worry in Steve's eyes, and the gently shaking in his hand as he brought the coffee cup up to his mouth. "You're tired and in pain, you need to get some rest and come back in the morning."

Steve sighed heavily and felt his ribs burn, Chin was right, but that didn't mean he had to listen to him. He gulped down the rest of his coffee, and moved his chair as close to Danny's bed as possible, taking Danny's hand in his again. He gripped it gently wanting Danny to know he was still there. "Not tonight. I'll never get any sleep, I might as well stay here."

Danny could hear voices and he knew he recognized them, but where from still eluded him. He could feel someone holding his hand, he wondered if it was his hand that was sweaty and shaking or the other persons. His head was pounding intensely, and it felt like his brain was trying to escape through his forehead. He heard the voices again, one was closer to him than the other two, and as his senses became clearer the voice got louder, he racked his brain, trying to place the voice to a face. He listened to the voice intently for a couple more minutes, all three voices were talking in unison now and they were getting even louder.

Steve had been talking to Chin and Kono about some cases that needed to be wrapped up when he noticed Danny's hand moving again, he looked up at Danny's face, his forehead was scrunched up, as were his eyes. Chin and Kono followed Steve's gaze and stood up at the same time as him. Steve was the first to talk, "Danny? Can you hear us? Open your eyes."

"Danny?" Kono said the apprehension evident in her voice.

He could hear them shouting his name, at least I know my own name he thought humorously, and then it all came flooding back to him, Five-0, Steve and the car crash. The voices got louder, but he ignored them trying to remember who was in the car with him that day.

Steve stared intently down at Danny, and then in a flash Danny's eyes opened wide.

"Steve!" Danny shouted it as loudly as his throat would allow. He had remembered who had been in the car with him, and panic took over. He looked up blurrily at the three faces above him; he lifted his free hand weakly and rubbed at his eyes. He closed them tightly and opened them again. Steve was stood there with that goofy grin on his face.

"Hey, I'm here, it's ok, relax Danny."

Danny swallowed a few times, trying to ignore the searing pain in his throat, he looked up at Steve and asked weakly, "are you ok?"

Steve's goofy grin turned into a smile. "Am I am ok? I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed," he said still smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts! I know it has been a really long wait for this chapter I went on vacation to California and then life got in the way! But I am back and I hope this chapter was worth the wait!_

Steve opened his eyes slowly and shifted uncomfortably in the hospital chair, bright sunlight was steaming through the hospital window, and he shielded his eyes from it, he looked towards the clock on the wall, it was seven AM. He looked over at Danny he was sleeping soundly in his bed and smiled. After Danny had spoken to Steve last night nurse Rose had checked on him, and told the team he was making good progress, the signs were all pointing in the right direction, he was beginning to regain consciousness, and he didn't appear to have any memory loss. After some prodding and prodding from Nurse Lee, Danny had fallen back asleep, and Steve had seen that as a chance for him to get some much needed rest too. Steve rubbed his eyes and sat up stiffly in the chair, rubbing his aching ribs. He looked around the room for Chin and Kono and saw a note left on top of the bedside table, he stood up slowly, wincing as his legs protested at bearing weight, and picked up the note,

'_Gone home to shower and change, will come back with breakfast around 8am. We have our cells if you need us.'_

Steve placed the note back down on the table and took a sharp intake of breath as the throbbing in his legs became a sharp pain shooting up his calf, he walked over to his bag and grabbed a couple of painkillers; he swallowed them dry and made his way back over to Danny's bed, he sat down and tried to take as much weight as possible off his legs. About half an hour later Danny slowly opened his eyes Steve was sat looking out the window, but as soon as he saw even the tiniest of movement from Danny his eyes darted back to his bed "Morning sleeping beauty," Steve said smiling at his partner.

"Hey," Danny said hoarsely rubbing his eyes "what time is it?"

"About quarter to eight, Chin and Kono will be back in fifteen minutes." Steve said sitting back down beside Danny's bed.

Danny shifted in the bed and moved his arms behind his back trying to get some leverage to move his body into a more sitting position. Steve stood up "do you think that's a good idea Danny?"

"I've been lying down for four days Steven, if I stare at this ceiling any longer I'm going to go mad, yes I think it's a good idea."

Steve smiled, it was nice to have Danny back, even if one of the first things he did was moan. "Alright, wait a second and I'll help you," Steve grabbed some more pillows from under the bedside table and put them behind Danny, he took hold of the top of Danny's arm and helped him into a more sitting position. Danny leant back against the pillow eyes closed. "You ok?" Steve asked apprehensively.

"Yeah I'm good, just feels weird sitting up, just need a minute to get my bearings."

Steve noticed Danny's sharp quick intakes of breath and his hands clutching at the bed sheets, "I'll call the nurse, get her to top up your pain medication." Danny didn't say anything so Steve grabbed the call button and pressed it frantically.

Nurse Rose ran in less than twenty seconds later, she looked over at Steve and noticing how panicked he looked asked, "what's the problem?"

"He wanted to sit up so I got some extra pillows and put them behind him, then helped him sit up a little, but then he said it felt weird sitting up and hasn't said anything since, and he's breathing quickly."

Nurse Rose walked over to Danny, "Danny can you hear me? You don't need to open your eyes if you're in pain, I just need some acknowledgment that you can hear me." Danny groaned quietly. "Ok, don't worry I'll put some more painkillers in your IV and you should feel better." She ran out of the room and returned with a syringe, she pushed the solution into Danny's IV and tapped his hand gently "this should take effect very quickly." She walked over to Steve, "If there's no improvement in ten minutes, come find me." Steve sat down in his chair and watched with worry as his partner tried to ride out the bout of pain that had overcome him.

After a couple of minutes Danny slowly opened his eyes, Steve smiled over at him, "Hey, good to have you back, you ok?"

Danny rubbed at his eyes weakly, "yeah, the room just started to spin, and then my head tried to explode, but the painkillers seem to be working," Steve nodded apprehensively and then absent-mindedly rubbed his legs, which were still aching. Danny looked over and him and raised an eyebrow, "you avoided my question earlier, are you ok? Because you don't look it, and correct me if I'm wrong but you look pale to me, how hurt were in the car crash?"

Steve sighed, "I'm ok Danny, my legs are just going to ache for a while, it's nothing for you to worry about."

Danny looked over at Steve he could see the pain he was trying to hide, "You're lying, tell me exactly what happened to your legs and then when Kono and Chin get back you are going home to rest and elevate them or whatever you're meant to do when you hurt your legs." Steve opened his mouth to interrupt him but Danny waved his arms about and Steve closed his mouth "ah no you are not going to argue with me, I know you, you're being all tough guy SEAL, but that doesn't work with me, and anyway it's a bit creepy you keeping this bedside vigil, it's scary waking up to your face! I'd rather you went home and rested and left me in peace!"

Steve laughed, "Fine Doctor Danny, I'll go home and rest later on."

"No, no not later on, as soon as Chin and Kono get back, you're not using your sneaky avoidant techniques on me, I bet you're hoping I fall asleep and forget all about our little conversation, but I won't!"

"Is that a threat? Are you going to gang up on me with Chin and Kono?" Steve said smiling, glad to have Danny back, even if he was nagging him.

"Yes it is a threat Steven, you will eat your breakfast and then go home, and I don't want to see you until tomorrow, and then hopefully you'll look more human and less ghost."

"Fine," Steve waved his arms and gave in "I will eat my breakfast and go home!"

Danny leant back against the pillows, "good" he said smiling at Steve. He looked back up from the pillows as Chin and Kono walked into the room carrying bagels and orange juice.

"Hey brah! Good to see you awake." Kono said as she handed a bagel to Steve and took up the seat next to him.

Danny smiled "is there a bagel for me?"

Chin smiled as he pulled up a seat the other side of the bed, "sorry brah, no food yet, doctors orders."

"So you mean I'm sat here my stomach rumbling and you're all going to sit and eat in front of me?"

Kono smiled, she could feel a Danny rant coming on, "yeah, sorry about that, maybe tomorrow you'll be able to have one?" she couldn't help the slight giggle that escaped her lips.

"You think this is funny Kono? I'm sat here starving, I haven't eaten in I don't know how long and you bring in these freshly baked bagels and tell me I have to watch you eat? That's not fair, I'm going to have to have a word with these people this is torture."

The other three laughed, it was good to have Danny back. They sat and ate their bagels with Danny mumbling away, Steve stood up and winced slightly as he collected their trash and looked around Danny's room for trashcan. "I'm going to go find somewhere to put these," he said motioning at the trash in his hands and left the room.

Danny sat up quickly, wishing he hadn't when the room began to spin; he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds waiting for the spinning to stop and then looked between Chin and Kono. "Steve needs to go home and get some rest, he's in pain." Kono looked up shocked.

"Is it his legs?" she asked, annoyed that Steve hadn't told them he was in pain.

"Yeah I think so, what happened to them?" Danny asked, talking quickly.

"They were crushed in the crash," Kono said remembering how bruised Steve's legs had been just a couple of days ago, she should have thought to ask him about them. "They were pretty badly bruised but the doctor said he would be fine on oral painkillers, but I think he should have elevated them more."

Chin nodded, "he does look pale today," he said thoughtfully.

Danny talked in a quick whisper "I told him after breakfast that he has to go home and I don't want to see him until tomorrow, make sure he actually gets some rest."

Kono nodded, "Ok I'll drive him home when he comes back in, I wish he would have said something about being in pain, he should have gone home when he was released."

Danny spoke comfortingly, "you know Steve no one can ever make him do anything he doesn't want to, now he knows that I'm on the mend he has no reason to be here twenty four hours a day."

Just as he finished talking Steve walked in the door, and could instantly see from his teams faces that they had been talking about him. He sighed, he didn't want to leave Danny but his legs needed to be elevated and he felt like he could sleep for weeks, and knowing that Chin or Kono would stay with Danny eased his worry about leaving him.

He raised his arms "Fine, I know you've been talking about me," he looked at Chin and Kono "would one of you mind driving me home?"

Kono smiled, "I'll take you, we can stop for some groceries on the way home too, seeing as your milk and bread will probably have gone off by now."

Steve nodded, not realising how long it had been since he had been home, he looked over at Danny noticing the smirk on his partners face, "this is the one and only time I am listening to you," he said pointing his finger at Danny as he walked back towards the door, "try not to annoy the nurses too much, I'll be back tomorrow morning" he said as he and Kono left through the swinging doors.

Danny laughed and looked towards Chin, "I think it's him that's going to be annoying Kono."

"I think you're right brah," Chin said laughing.


	11. Chapter 11

_I know I always say it, but I really do appreciate the alerts and reviews so much, I hope you enjoy this chapter._

Kono pulled the car into Steve's driveway and turned off the engine, she glanced over at Steve, he had been quiet the whole journey. He sat straight and stiff staring straight ahead, she wasn't even sure if he'd realized they'd arrived at his house. She got out of the car, quietly collecting the groceries and went and opened the front door. She turned around and looked at the car, Steve still hadn't moved. She decided to put away the groceries and then see if Steve needed any help getting into the house. She quickly threw away any old or mouldy food and restocked the fridge and then headed back out to the driveway. She gently opened the passenger door not wanting to startle Steve who still seemed oblivious to her being there she looked with concern at him, his appearance was pale and his eyes were red and bloodshot. "Hey, are you ok?" She said gently, Steve jumped startled by her voice and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to go inside?" she asked as Steve composed himself rubbing his hands down his face tiredly.

"Yeah sorry," he said quietly unfastening his seat belt and gingerly moving out of the car. Kono reached into the back seat and grabbed his bag as Steve slowly made his way into the house. She walked just behind Steve, letting him know she was there to help if he needed it, but he managed to make his way into the house alone, albeit with a couple of stops to catch his breathe. Kono pushed her hair back from her eyes frustrated in herself for not realizing how much pain Steve was still in. She placed the bag down and opened some windows to let the cool sea breeze into the house, she looked over at Steve who was leaning against the door that lead out to the back of the house and down to the sea. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, she walked over to Steve and handed him the bottle, and he took it appreciatively. "Thanks," he said gulping it down quickly. He put the bottle on a nearby table and sighed heavily.

"Are you ok?" Kono asked, since they had left the hospital Steve had said the grand total of three words, and she couldn't understand why, Danny was awake and although it was going to take some time he was well on the way to being back to his normal self.

Steve looked down at her, and sighed again "I'm fine Kono," he said it quietly, turning back to look out at the sea.

Kono didn't want to push the subject straight away but made a mental note to get him to tell her what was wrong later, right now he needed rest. "Where to you want to lie down, on the sofa or upstairs in bed?" She asked in a no nonsense manner hoping Steve wouldn't resist the rest his body needed.

Steve looked unsure and rubbed his palm across his forehead, "um, I guess I'll go upstairs?"

Kono wasn't used to Steve being unsure or apprehensive about anything, it worried her that he was so quiet and withdrawn. "Do you want me to help you upstairs?"

"Um, I guess if you don't mind?" Steve said softly moving slowly towards the stairs.

"Of course I don't mind," she said smiling, they slowly made there way upstairs with Steve gently leaning on Kono for support, so as his legs didn't need to bear all of his weight. It took a long time, and Kono could see that Steve was in a lot of pain but they managed to make their way into Steve's room and he sat down slowly on the bed his eyes closed tightly.

"Are you ok? Do you need some more painkillers?" Kono asked quickly.

"No…I'm good." Steve said through quick shallow breaths. "But there are some anti-inflammatory pills in my bag, could you get them please?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be right back," Kono said running down the stairs two at the time and returning quickly with his anti-inflammatory pills, painkillers and two bottles of water. She placed them on his bedside table. "Do you want me to get you some more comfortable clothes or anything?"

"No, it's ok," Steve said as he bent down to try and remove his shoes, but winced sharply as a pain shot through his ribs taking his breath away.

"I'll do that," Kono said bending down and untying his shoes.

"Thanks," Steve said weakly as he edged himself onto the bed, Kono propped some pillows up behind him and he slowly pulled his legs up onto the bed and lent back into the pillows sighing in relief as the throbbing in his legs subsided slightly.

"Is there anything else you need?" Kono asked whilst pulling a sheet up over Steve and making sure his pills and water were within easy reach.

Steve looked up at her with tired eyes, "could you call Chin and check Danny's ok?" he asked.

"Sure," she said smiling, it didn't surprise her one bit that Steve would need confirmation that Danny was still ok, before he would rest and relax. She wanted to think of an excuse to leave the room when she called Chin, so she could talk to him about Steve. "How about I go make you something to eat whilst I call Chin, I can't remember the last time you ate something," Steve nodded silently and she left the room, pulling to door closed behind her. She was just entering the kitchen when Chin picked up.

"Hey cuz, how's Steve?" His voice was calm and comforting.

Kono opened the fridge and sighed, "I'm not sure, he's not himself."

"Why, what's happened?" Kono could sense the concern in his voice.

"Nothing's happened, he's just been quiet and withdrawn, I dunno what's wrong, he said he was fine, but he's not Chin, I'm worried about him."

"Maybe he's tired?" Chin said thoughtfully.

"Maybe," Kono said, she put her phone on speakerphone and placed it on the counter and began to prepare Steve a small salad. "He seems to be in a lot of pain with his legs and his ribs, I bet his legs are swollen," she said thoughtfully.

"Give him some time to rest and take some weight off his legs, then he might be ok." He paused for a moment, "maybe his legs are worse than we thought, make sure he takes all his pills and maybe he'll be back to his usual self tomorrow." Chin said, trying to comfort his worried cousin.

"Yeah I hope so, how's Danny doing?"

"He's doing ok, the doctor came in just after you left, said he's making good progress, obviously he's going to be a bit weak and tired for a while, but the Doc seems pleased with how alert and responsive he is. He's been dozing on and off all day, he did ask to speak to Grace, so I said he could give her a call after school today."

"That's great, talking to Grace will be good for him." Kono said, finishing the salad and putting the knife and chopping board in the dishwasher.

"Yeah, he's sleeping now, so I'm just getting myself a coffee."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kono said tiredly "I think I might stay here with Steve tonight, if you're ok staying with Danny, then I'm sure we'll be there bright and early in the morning."

"Yeah that's fine cuz, just keep an eye on Steve, make sure he takes his pain meds it wouldn't surprise me if the reason he's so quiet is because he's trying to hide the pain he's in."

"Yeah I think you might be right, I'll call you if I need you, otherwise I'll see you tomorrow," she ended the call and picked up the salad and made her way upstairs. She walked into Steve's room and found him sitting on the edge of his bed, he'd changed into shorts and she looked down at his legs. "Steve! Why didn't you tell me your legs were that swollen? No wonder you've been in pain!" She put the salad down on the bedside table and grabbed his anti-inflammatory pills, she handed him two and a bottle of water, and he took them quickly.

He looked up sheepishly at Kono, "I honestly didn't realise they were this bad, I thought the pain was just them healing."

Kono softened slightly, "Trust you to think pain was a good thing! But you have to keep off them for the rest of the day, that swelling needs to go down and you need to get some rest."

Steve nodded and lay back down in the bed. "How's Danny?"

Kono smiled, "he's fine, he's sleeping, which is what you should be doing."

Steve yawned, "yeah I am pretty tired, thanks for driving me home, I appreciate it,"

"That's what ohana does," Kono said smiling as she walked towards the door. "I'm going to stay the night, so if you need anything just shout out."

"You don't need to stay Kono, I'm fine." Steve said closing his eyes.

"Sure you are, but just humor me for tonight, then I'll give you a lift back to the hospital to see Danny in the morning if that swelling has gone down."

"Ok," Steve said tiredly.

Kono left the room, only half shutting the door so as she could hear if Steve called out, she grabbed a soda from the fridge and made herself comfortable on the sofa and turned on the TV, she was asleep within minutes, tiredness catching up with her.

Steve lent back against the pillows his eyes shut tightly and sighed as deeply as his ribs would allow, for the first time all day he didn't have to hide how much pain he was in, he lent forward ignoring the protest in his ribs and massaged his calf's, they had been painful all day, making it nearly impossible for him to concentrate on anything else. He lent back and reached back for the salad Kono had prepared him, he picked up the fork and took a couple of mouthfuls he chewed slowly, he had no appetite but knew he had to eat something, sighing he took a couple more mouthfuls and put in on the bedside table, he decided to try and get some sleep, he pulled the sheet up around him, and despite the pain was asleep in minutes.

Kono looked at the time on the TV, three thirty four AM. She rubbed her eyes sleepily wondering why she had woken up with such a jolt, she tried to remember what she had been dreaming about she remembered someone yelling, maybe that's what woke her up. She sat up on the sofa and rubbed her neck, cursing at falling asleep at such an awkward angle, then she heard the yell again, but this time she recognized who the yelling was coming from, she jumped up and ran upstairs towards Steve's room.


	12. Chapter 12

_I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to update, no excuse really, just lost the bug for a while, but I am back! Sorry for keeping you all waiting._

Kono ran into Steve's room and switched on the light, she looked to the bed and saw Steve sat on the edge of the bed rubbing his eyes.

"Hey what's wrong, are you ok?" Kono asked slightly out of breathe.

Steve closed his eyes and took a couple of calming breathes, "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Kono leant on the doorframe taking in her tired looking boss; she wasn't going to let him dismiss her that easily, "did you have a nightmare or something? You can talk to me Steve, I want to help."

"Yeah it was just a nightmare, I'm fine." Steve said reaching for the bottle of water on his bedside table and taking a gulp.

"What was it about?" Kono asked walking over to the window and opening it wide to let in the sea breeze.

"I don't have them very often, just when I haven't had much sleep, I find it hard to switch my brain off and relax."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question." Kono said sitting next to Steve on the bed.

Steve signed deeply forgetting that his ribs were still sore, they protested to his deep breath and he reached for his painkillers and swallowed a couple dry. "I just hear the phone call with my father again, I wake up just as I hear the shot from the gun, and I guess I scream out, seeing as you ran in here looking kinda crazy." He said smiling a little.

Kono returned the smile, "I'm sorry that you still have to relive it."

"I haven't dreamt about it in a couple of months, just with the lack of sleep and the worry of the last couple of days, I guess it all caught up with me."

Kono nodded "Yeah you haven't really been yourself today, I mean you thought the pain in your legs meant they were healing!"

Steve smiled, " I didn't want to worry you, I knew they were getting worse, I just thought if I could get home without telling anyone then I could elevate them and no one would have to know, or try and stop me from seeing Danny."

"We would never stop you from seeing Danny, but you've got to understand that you need time to heal as well, and it's so frustrating watching you ignore your own body."

"Yeah I know," Steve said rubbing his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he looked down at his legs "on the plus side the swelling has all but gone."

Kono followed Steve's gaze down to his legs, "they look almost normal now!" She yawned and looked at the clock, "well I'm going to get a couple more hours sleep, and then we'll head to the hospital at about eight?"

Steve nodded "yeah that sounds good, thanks for tonight Kono, I appreciate you staying."

Kono rubbed Steve's arm and stood up "no problem, I'm glad you're getting better. Get some more rest!" She switched off the light and headed back downstairs.

Steve got back under the covers appreciating the cool breeze through the open window. He leant back into the pillows and smiled thinking of how close he had become with his team, he really was lucky that they had his back, even if he didn't always let them in, he knew he could trust them to be there when he needed them. Realizing how tired he was he closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

Steve awoke to the sound of the waves outside his window, he propped himself up on his elbows and looked out at the beautiful Hawaiian morning; the sun was streaming into his room, filling it with a yellow glow. He smiled and look down at his legs, the swelling had gone, he eased himself off the bed and was surprised when there was hardly any pain from them bearing weight. He could hear Kono in the kitchen and decided to have a shower before he went downstairs.

Kono was pouring a glass of orange juice when Steve walked into the kitchen in shorts and t-shirt rubbing a towel through his wet hair. "You look almost back to normal now!" She said smiling and handing him the glass of orange juice and pouring herself one.

Steve sipped at the drink and placed the towel down on the back of the chair, "It's amazing what a good nights sleep and shower will do," he said reaching for an apple and sitting down. "Have you talked to Chin this morning, how's Danny?"

Kono sat opposite him and peeled an orange. "Yeah he rang whilst you were in the shower, he said Danny had a pretty restless night, I don't think either of them got much sleep."

Steve sighed frustrated that he couldn't have been there for Danny during the night, "why was he so restless?"

"The nurses told Chin it was normal, and that as he becomes more alert he's going to become more annoyed by his limitations. You know how Danny can never stop moving brah! He's probably just frustrated about still being cooped up in bed, and not being able to do much."

Steve had to smile at the mention of Danny always moving, he had known it would get to stage where Danny would get frustrated, he had felt exactly the same, hopefully a visit from him and Kono would distract him for a while, although he knew it wouldn't be long before Danny was demanding to be let out of bed!

After breakfast Kono drove them to the hospital, they picked up some coffees and bagels for Chin, and one for Danny in case the doctor said he was allowed to eat something.

They walked up to Danny's room and found Chin stood outside, Steve quickened his pace, "what's wrong, why are you out here?"

Chin smiled tiredly, "it's ok brah, nothing's wrong, they doctor is in there doing some checks, he said Danny will probably be moved to another room today, where he needs less monitoring, so he's just giving him a once over."

Steve leant on the wall next to Chin, "ok that's good. How was your night, Kono said it was a bit rough?"

Chin nodded as Kono handed him a coffee, "yeah Danny couldn't get to sleep, said he'd been doing enough sleeping and laying down and wanted to get out!" He chuckled at the memory, "he tried to get out of bed a couple of times, had to be bribed by the nurses, they said if he stayed in bed and tried to rest they might move him to another floor tomorrow where he can start to get up and about, I think he went to sleep at about four am. Although it wasn't very peaceful and he was awake again by about six."

They heard the door to Danny's room open and turned to look at the doctor. She smiled and motioned for them to follow her to the seats down the corridor. They all sat with expectant eyes on her. "We're very pleased with Danny's progress, he seems to be regaining strength and is more alert and talkative. He's going to be moved down to a less high dependency room now, where he will begin physical therapy which should help with any stiffness and muscle loss from him being in the coma, but if he continues the way he's going I can see him getting out of here soon. I'll get the nurse to come and get you when he's been moved" All three smiled at the news, they had spent more time than they had ever wanted to in the hospital and the prospect of them all being back together soon was an encouraging thought.

"Thank you," Steve said as the doctor stood up, she turned around to look at them again.

"He's lucky to have such a close group of friends around him, I really do think your presence has helped him recover so quickly." She smiled at the group and made her way down the corridor.

Chin leant back in the chair rubbing his eyes and yawning, "if it's ok with you two I think I might head back home for a couple of hours, and get some sleep."

Kono nodded "yeah that's fine cuz, we'll be here."

Chin got up and squeezed Steve's shoulder "I'm glad you're looking better, but you still need to take it easy ok?"

Steve smiled up at Chin, "I will don't worry." Chin nodded and made his way to the elevators.

Kono picked up a magazine and both her and Steve waited for the nurse to come and tell them where Danny's new room was. Steve leant back in his chair and waited impatiently. Fifteen minutes later a nurse with her brown hair tied back and a folder in her arms came up to them; "I'm nurse Martin" she smiled at Steve and Kono as they both stood up. "Danny has been moved to floor four room 422. I can take you down there," she motioned to the elevator and they all made their way towards Danny's room. In the elevator Steve couldn't help but question the nurse about what was next for Danny.

"So when does Danny's physical therapy start?"

Nurse Martin looked through the folder she was carrying, "he's been scheduled in to be assessed at about two PM this afternoon, and then it will be probably be twice daily, morning and afternoon. Until he's ready to leave, he needs to regain his strength, and to begin with standing will feel very weird, seeing as he's been lying down for so long."

Steve nodded scratching his chin; the elevator doors opened and they made their way along the corridor. "When do you think he'll get out of here?" He saw Kono smile out of the corner of his eye at his questioning of the nurse. "Well if his physical therapy goes well I can see him possibly being released in a few of days, maybe Wednesday or Thursday." Steve smiled, at the fact that Danny could be out of hospital and their team would be back to some kind of normality by the end of the week.

They reached a door and nurse Martin stopped "this is Danny's room," she looked down at the bag from the local bakery Steve was holding, "he can have a little food, but not too much. Press the call button if you need anything, otherwise I'll be by every couple of hours or so."

Steve and Kono nodded "thank you." Steve said as he pushed open the door to Danny's new room. The room was more spacious than the other one, and there were less monitors around Danny's bed, he still has his IV, but the rest of the wires and machines which were around him in his previous room had gone. Danny's bed was against the wall to their right as they walked in and a window opposite them was open wide with the sun streaming in. Danny was sat up in the bed looking tired. "I hear you didn't sleep much last night?" Steve said pulling a chair from beside the door and placing it next to the bed.

Danny reached for the bag from the bakery in Steve's hand but Steve pulled it away from his reach. "I've done enough sleeping," he said frustrated, "can I have a bagel? I'm starving."

Steve leant forward and put his elbows on the bed, "not until you tell me why you gave Chin and the nurses such a restless night."

Danny sighed, "I'm just sick of this," he motioned around the room and let his arms drop heavily to his side. "I hate being told what I can and can't do."

Steve reached into the bag and handed Danny a bagel, "I know it's frustrating, but you'll start physical therapy today, and before you know it you'll be out of here, you just need to be a little bit patient."

Kono scoffed from the other side of the room, "Danny patient! Have you forgotten who you're talking to here?"

Steve smiled as Danny took a greedy bite from his bagel as if emphasizing her point, "hey slow down, you haven't eaten in a while." He said handing him a napkin.

Kono pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed, "I know it's annoying to be sat in bed when you feel like you can move about and do things unaided. I was exactly the same after I busted my knee, but the nurses know best, just listen to them and you'll be out of here soon."

Danny nodded taking a small bite from his bagel and looking over at Kono, "I know, I just got frustrated last night, it's difficult laying down twenty four hours a day and then being tired but not being able to sleep."

Kono nodded her understanding and rubbed his arm, "it's not for much longer, and you won't be lying down all day today, trust me those nurses can be brutal with physical therapy!"

Danny smiled "yeah, I'm on the home straight down."

Steve smiled "yep, Five-0 will be back together soon."

"And then all I'll have to worry about is being shot at." Danny mumbled.

"What was that?" Steve said raising his eyebrow.

"Nothing Steven." Danny said winking at Kono "anyway where did Chin go?"

Kono laughed, "He went home to get some rest! I don't think he got much last night."

Danny yawned, "Yeah I don't think I was the greatest of company last night."

Steve noticing the yawn stood up, "I think you should get some sleep before your physical therapy Danno, we'll come back this afternoon."

Danny nodded tiredly, his eyes drifting shut. "Ok, see you later."

Steve and Kono left Danny's room, closing the door quietly behind them, Kono looked up at Steve, "what's with the massive grin?" she said smiling.

"Danno's going to be ok," he said looking back into Danny's room.

Kono nodded; "yeah he is, he'll be back home in no time," She looked at Steve and could see the tension and worries from the past week leave his body.

Steve slowed his walk and looked over at her, "I was thinking about that." He said pressing the button for the elevator. "When he's released I was thinking he should come stay with me for a while, you know just until he's one hundred percent better."

Kono smiled, she knew that Steve wouldn't want Danny alone in his apartment when he was released. "That sounds like a good idea, but I don't know what Danny will say. You know you'll get a massive lecture about him needing to stand on his own two feet and not needing to be babied!"

"That's why I was thinking I won't ask, I'll tell." He said smiling.


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you for all the alerts and reviews I really appreciate it, I hope you enjoy this chapter._

Kono had dropped Steve back off at his house and had told him she was going to go check in on HPD. After the accident HPD had taken over Five-0's open cases but with Steve now out of hospital and Danny on the way to making a full recovery she had promised Steve she would go find out what was happening with the cases, and see if Five-0 could re-assign themselves to a couple of them. Chin was meeting her at HQ so they could go through the files.

Steve had had some lunch, made up the guest room and gone for a leisurely swim mindful not to stray too far from shore in case he got cramp. He'd just finished cleaning the living room when his phone alarm went off to signal it was three PM, he had figured Danny's physical therapy session would be done by three thirty and it would take him half an hour to get to the hospital in traffic.

Steve made his way up to Danny's room; swinging the bag of malasadas he had picked up on the way over. He saw Danny's doctor stood at the nurse's station and walked over to her, "Hey Doc, I was wondering if you've got a second?"

Doctor Allen turned and smiled at Steve, "sure what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering, when you discharge Danny would he be ok staying alone in his apartment, or should he have someone with him?"

"Ideally we would want to send someone home with a support system in place, when he's discharged he won't be fully fit, he'll still be tired and possibly a bit unsteady on his feet at times, I wouldn't feel happy sending him home if there wasn't someone with him."

Steve nodded, "thanks Doc, that's what I thought." She smiled and nodded as he made his way towards Danny's room.

He got to Danny's room and looked through the window, Danny was sat on the edge of his bed, a walker beside him, Steve took in Danny's appearance he had changed out of the hospital gown and was now wearing shorts and a white t-shirt which Chin had bought in for him on his last visit. His face was red and covered in a fine layer of sweat, and his legs were shaking slightly. One of the nurses who was in his room handed him a couple blue squidgy looking balls, patted him on the shoulder and made her way towards the door, the younger looking nurse who had been in the room with her following behind. Steve nodded and smiled at them as they walked past and made his way into Danny's room.

"Hey, how did it go?" Steve asked taking a seat next to Danny, keeping hold of the bag of malasadas.

"Nurse Carter said I did well." Danny said rubbing his hands down his face and eying up the malasadas, "those for me?"

"Depends." Steve said smiling and waving the bag in front of him, "did they give you a list of extra exercises to do when they weren't here?"

Danny eyed him annoyed "Yes they did Steven, but I think I deserve some malasadas, to help keep my strength up."

Steve placed the bag on the bedside table which was just out of Danny's reach, and leaned back in the chair, "how about we do a couple of your exercises then I'll let you have one."

Danny wanted to argue, but the quicker he did his exercises the quicker he could eat, so he threw one of the blue balls to Steve, placing the other beside him, "got to practice catching that, to improve my hand eye co-ordination, and to build up any strength I've lost in my arms."

Steve nodded and tossed the ball back to Danny, who caught it easily. Steve pushed the chair back, and walked as far from Danny as he could, "lets see what you've got then," he said holding his hand out for the ball. Danny threw it effortlessly into Steve's outstretched hands.

Steve threw it back, although this time he threw it to the side so that Danny would have to stretch out to catch it, Danny stretched his arm out and again caught it easily. "I told them I didn't need to do any of these exercises, I've played baseball since little league, there's no way you ever lose the sort of skill I had."

Steve laughed, "Alright then all-star, ten more of these without dropping it and you can have your malasadas."

"Deal," Danny said throwing the ball back as hard as you could a foam ball.

A few hours later and Danny woke up from a nap, he had successfully caught the ball ten times and had been rewarded with malasadas, then all the exertion from his physical therapy had caught up with him and the second he had leaned back on his bed and his head touched the pillow he was asleep. He looked over at Steve who was stood looking out the window. He eased himself up into a more sitting position. "Sorry," he said apologetically to Steve.

Steve turned around, "what are you sorry for Danno?" Steve looked over confused and walked over towards him.

"For falling asleep for hours, you could have gone home I wouldn't have minded."

"It's ok," Steve said pulling up a seat and sitting down, "you need your rest." He said smiling.

"You know what else I need?" Danny said wrinkling up his nose. "I need a shower, I can't remember the last time I had one, and I feel pretty disgusting." He pulled off the covers and swung his legs around so that they were dangling over the side of the bed.

"Whoa," Steve stood up, "should you be showering unassisted, I mean how long can you stand for?" He walked around the end of the bed and stood in front of Danny.

"Nurse Carter said it would be fine, there's a chair in the shower if I need it, and I stood unaided for ten minutes this afternoon. In fact she said I was doing so well, I may only need a couple more sessions then I could be discharged," Danny said proudly standing up and finding himself inches away from Steve. "Can you get out of my way you big goof?"

Steve stepped aside, "Ok if you're sure you're ok, but I'm going to wait right outside the door, and if you need any help you shout out."

Danny walked slowly towards the bathroom, "yes mom."

Danny closed the door, and Steve stood beside it leaning against the wall, "and don't lock the door." He could hear Danny mumbling and smiled to himself.

Half an hour later and Danny was sat on his bed drying off his hair with a towel, Steve was glad to see that his hair was now blond, rather than the blond with a slight red tinge which it had been since they accident. He heard the door open and looked up to see Nurse Carter walking into the room, she smiled at them both and walked over to Danny. "How are you feeling after our session this afternoon Danny?"

"Well I managed to have a shower without falling over which I consider a good thing."

Nurse Carter smiled, "That is a good thing. Have you done your arm strengthening exercises?"

"Yep, they were easy." Danny said a big grin across his face.

"I thought they might be, your muscles haven't lost too much strength as your coma wasn't for an extended amount of time, but still moving and walking may feel a bit funny for a couple of days. But if you are able to shower and walk around unaided, then I will come by tomorrow morning to do a couple more tests and we may be able to discharge you in the afternoon. Obviously the doctor will have the final say, but I can't see you staying here much longer."

Steve looked up at Danny and was surprised when he saw a flicker of fear cross Danny's face before he smiled at the nurse.

"That's great," Danny said nodding his head, "thanks."

Nurse Carter smiled and made her way out of the room.

Steve moved his chair closer to the bed as Danny shuffled himself back and leant against the pillows. "That's great Danny, you could be out of here tomorrow!"

Danny smiled at him, "Yep, finally back to normal, and I've got Grace this weekend so I'll be out in time to spend the weekend with her."

Steve was quite for a couple of minutes and Danny leant up and looked over at him, "Steve I can hear you thinking from over here, spit it out."

Steve took a deep breath, "I was thinking that…"

Danny sighed impatiently, he wasn't used to Steve being at a loss for words, "yes, you were thinking what?"

Steve shifted in the chair "that you should come stay with me for a while, you know just until you're one hundred percent better, I've got enough room for you and Grace when you have her on the weekend, I don't like the thought of you going back to your apartment on your own."

Danny smiled slightly "it's a very nice offer Steve, and don't get me wrong, I really appreciate it, but I think I'd just like to get back to normal and go back to my apartment."

Steve shifted in his seat again, "well it's not really up for discussion, and it's the only way you're going to be able to get out of here before the weekend."

Danny looked over at him "what? I'm fine, I can look after myself."

"You're going to be tired and stiff for a couple of days, the Doctor says you need someone around to keep an eye on you."

Danny sighed, "There is no way I'm going to be able to argue with you and Doctor Allen and win." He smiled at Steve. "Fine I will come stay with you, but just for a couple of days, and I don't need you running around like my mom ok? You can keep an eye on me if it will make you happy, but I can look after myself, I won't need you standing outside the bathroom every time I have a shower!"

Steve laughed relieved that Danny hadn't argued with him too much "whatever you say Danno."

"Are you sure it's ok that Grace comes and stays too? I could always switch my weekend to next week when I'm back in my apartment."

Steve shook his head, "I'd love to have her round, in fact I've been looking forward to it. I was think that Kono could come over and give her a surfing lesson and we could invite Chin over and all have a BBQ one evening."

Danny smiled "I can see you thought this through, thanks Steve I really appreciate it."

Steve reached forward rubbing his partners arm "Anytime Danno."

Danny yawned stretching his arms above his head, "If it's ok with you, I think I'm going to get some sleep?" He leaned back into the pillows closing his eyes.

"That's fine Danny, you rest and I'll be here first thing in the morning to see what the Doctor says about you getting out here."

Steve frowned when Danny didn't smile at the mention of possibly being discharged tomorrow; in fact he was sure he saw Danny gulp and his breath hitch.

"Ok, see you tomorrow." Danny said without opening his eyes.

Steve got up and left the room quietly. He made his way to the elevator slowly, trying to figure out why there was that fleeting look of fear across Danny's face when the nurse mentioned he could be released the next day. He shook his head; maybe I'm imagining it he thought, maybe it was surprise rather than fear and I'm just confusing them, but he had always been good at reading people, and that look was definitely fear, and couple that with the hitched breath and gulp at the mention of him leaving hospital and Steve was certain that Danny was afraid of leaving the hospital, now he just had to work out why.


	14. Chapter 14

_I am so so so sorry that it has taken me this long to update! A combination of work, vacations, Christmas and a broken computer have meant that I haven't been able to update when I have wanted to, I hope this chapter makes up for it! I have all the chapters hand-written so it is just a case of finding the time to type them up and post them, although I really hope that it will be weekly from now on, thank you for all the reviews and alerts I really appreciate every single one :)_

Steve strode purposely down the hospital corridor, he had been up at five AM eager to get to the hospital and see Danny, visiting hours started at nine AM, but he had flashed his smile at one of the nurses and she had said he could arrive at eight AM. So here he was striding down the corridor a big grin covering his face, ready to finally spring Danny out of hospital. Chin and Kono had called that morning, they were finishing up some cases, and would be by the house that evening to check on them both. Steve looked through the window of Danny's room and was pleased to see he was up and sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the bed, he was looking down at some papers in his hand. Steve burst into the room making Danny jump and sat down in the chair opposite him. Danny looked up and glared at him "you idiot, you trying to give me a heart attack so I can never leave this place?"

Steve smiled "Sorry Danny. Are those your discharge papers?" he asked nodding at the papers in Danny's hand.

Danny held the papers tightly in one hand, a pen in the other. "Yep, just got to sign them and give them to the nurse at the station and I will finally be a free man."

Steve laughed, "it's a hospital Danny, not a prison."

Danny grinned; "sure," He balanced the papers on his knee and signed them quickly. "Ok, looks like we are ready to go," he picked up his bag and stood up.

"Don't you have to have a nurse escort you out?" Steve said dubiously.

"And what you're just here for decoration? I've cleared it with the nurses, they said I could leave as soon as you arrived."

"Ok, then lets go." Steve said as he took Danny's bag from him and opened the door, Danny grumbled about Steve taking the bag off him but went through the door to give the nurses his paperwork with a passing glare at Steve. Steve leant on the wall outside Danny's room as he waited for him to be cleared to leave, he was pleased to see that there seemed to be no apprehension from his partner about leaving hospital this morning, he wondered if maybe Danny had been tired and grumpy yesterday making him seem off, the thought quickly left his mind as his partner made his way over to him smiling.

"Got the all clear, and I'm free to leave," Danny said walking slowly past Steve towards the elevators.

Steve took in his appearance, his smile had faded and his face looked pinched. "You in pain Danny?"

Danny reached and pressed the button for the elevator and looked up at him, "I'm ok babe, just a bit stiff, but could we stop and pick up my pain meds on the way to your house? I'll probably need them the next couple of days."

"Yeah sure we can," Steve said and looked towards the elevator as the doors opened, "we could stop and get a pizza or something too, if you're hungry."

Danny followed him into the elevator "That sounds like one of the greatest ideas you've ever had Steven, but no pineapple." He said pointing his finger at Steve.

Steve held his hands up "No pineapple Danny, I promise!"

They slowly made their way out of the hospital towards the parking lot, Steve dropped Danny's bag onto a bench "you wait here and I'll go get the truck and bring it around to the pick-up point."

Danny nodded as he eased himself onto the bench, grateful of the rest.

Steve strode off quickly and Danny smiled as he breathed in the fresh air, he never thought he would enjoy being in the heat of the Hawaiian sun, but he leant back, turning his face up to the sky, enjoying the heat of his face.

He looked to his left as he heard Steve's truck pull up and saw Steve jump out and walk over to him, and he suddenly felt his chest tighten.

Steve walked up to Danny who was looking pale all of a sudden, "you alright Danny?"

Danny took a gulp and looked up at him in surprise, "I just need a minute." He said, finding it suddenly hard for him to catch his breath.

Steve sat next to him placing a hand on his shoulder and bowed his head to catch his eyes, "what is it Danny? What's wrong?"

Danny took a fleeting glance at Steve and could see the panic and worry. He tried to suck some air into his lungs but it was becoming harder with each breath. "I'm...fine...give me...a...minute."

Steve gripped Danny's shoulder tightly "You're not fine Danny, what happened when I went to get the truck?"

Danny looked down at the floor and tried to even out his ragged breathing, he clasped his hands together tightly to try and stop them shaking. "Nothing...happened."

Steve placed his hand on top of Danny's clasped hands and squeezed reassuringly, "If nothing happened then why can't you breathe all of a sudden?" Steve said trying not to sound as scared as he felt. Danny leant his head back and Steve could see a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. He stood up, "I'm going to get a doctor."

Danny looked up at him his eyes wide," NO...Please...don't" he said in-between quick intakes of breath.

"Danny I can't leave you like this, something's not right. Tell me what's wrong, talk to me."

Danny grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to him on the bench. Steve could see him straining to pull air into his lungs and it terrified him. Danny kept a firm grip of his arm and took a quick gulp full of air, "I can't...get in...the car." he said before taking another quick breathe and looking down at the ground.

Suddenly Steve understood and he knelt down in front of Danny making eye contact, "it's ok Danny, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, just try and slow down your breathing, look at me and just breathe." Danny looked at him intently and mirrored Steve's breathing. "That's it, in and out, nice and slow." Steve watched as Danny got his breathing back under control, he never broke the eye contact, coaching his partner and reassuring him. Danny's breathing slowed and he rubbed his hands roughly down his face. He broke the eye contact and looked down at his shoes.

"Sorry," he said so quietly Steve struggled to hear him.

"You have got nothing to be sorry for Danny," Steve said still looking at his partner with concern, he didn't know what else to say, he honestly didn't know how he was going to get a terrified Danny into his car, he had heard of people being scared of getting on a plane or in a car after a bad experience, and Danny's 'bad experience' had nearly cost him his life, so he could completely understand the panic attack, but now he didn't know how he could help his partner. He stood up slowly and sat back down next to Danny on the bench, he placed his arm on his back reassuringly. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do Danny." Danny stared silently at the floor, his hands clasped in front of him still shaking slightly.

Steve sat and watched his partner, Danny didn't move, he just sat with his head bowed looking at the floor and his hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles were going white. After what seemed like an age, but it was probably only around ten minutes Danny rubbed his hands through his hair and down his face, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Steve leaned forward anticipating Danny was about to say something and not wanting to miss what he said. "I'm such an idiot.," he said quietly.

"Danny, you're not an idiot, it's completely understandable to be scared."

"You're not," Danny said, turning his head quickly to look at Steve, before returning to stare at the floor.

"I didn't almost die," Steve, said matter-of-factly. "You had to be resuscitated Danny," he paused and looked at his partner, "is this why you looked so scared when the doctor said you could leave? You were afraid of getting in a car again?"

Danny nodded, his eyes still staring at the floor. Steve felt his stomach knot, he hated to see his partner so afraid, he leant forward mirroring Danny's position, "I'm sorry Danny, I'm so so sorry,"

Danny turned his attention away from the floor and looked at Steve, "this isn't your fault."

Steve looked away into the distance, "yes it is, I was driving that day Danny, if I had just seen that idiot sooner, if I had reacted quicker, then we would never have been hit, and you would never have been injured."

Danny sighed, the thought had crossed his mind that Steve would feel responsible, and he wished he had called Steve up on it earlier, he held onto guilt so tightly it would end up suffocating him one day, he had to learn to let it go "Steve look at me," Steve blinked frantically and looked back at Danny, and Danny could see his eyes full of unshed tears, "Steve, this is not your fault, ok? I do not blame you, and you should not blame yourself, it was that other drivers fault, not yours, I was there, and I remember everything, and I can categorically tell you, there was nothing you could have done to avoid what happened, ok?"

Steve nodded slowly, "ok," he straightened up and rubbed his hands across his eyes, "do you want me to give Chin or Kono a call, they could drive you back to mine?"

Danny's eyes went wide and he straightened up from his hunched over position, winching at his sore muscles, "what, why?"

Steve shuffled uncomfortably, "I just thought that you might feel safer with one of them driving."

Danny laughed slightly "you may be a crazy driver my friend, but the problem is not with you driving me, it is the thought of getting in any car, with anyone driving." he sighed annoyed at himself.

Steve nodded, deep in thought, "why don't we just do it in stages? We'll get you in the car, I won't drive or anything, we'll just sit in the car for as long as you want, then if and when you feel comfortable I'll start driving, if you start to panic, then I'll pull over, and you can get out?"

Danny looked over at Steve's truck in front of them, if he ever wanted to get out of hospital, and be able to get in a car, he knew he had to tackle this fear, and there was no one he trusted more than Steve to help him through. "Ok," he said, getting to his feet slowly, Steve grabbed his arm to steady him grabbing Danny bag with the other and they made their way over to Steve's truck, the closer they got the more Danny could feel his palms sweating and his breath speed up, they got to the passenger door and Danny froze, his breathing quickening, "I don't know if I can do this," he said quickly and panicked, Steve rubbed his arm, turning Danny around so that he was leaning on the truck.

"It's ok Danny, we've got all the time in the world, ok? Just slow your breathing back down for me." Danny leant back into the cool metal of the truck and closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing down, he opened his eyes and saw Steve's eyes looking back at him with concern, "you ok?"

Danny smiled weakly, "yeah, I'm ok babe, sorry."

"There is nothing for you to be sorry for, in fact if I hear you say that again, I'm just going to leave you here," Steve said with a smile. He reached for the handle and opened the door, "you don't have to get in yet, just get in when you're ready, ok?"

Danny nodded, breathing deeply trying to calm himself down. Steve leant on the truck beside him patiently waiting until his partner was ready. After a couple of minutes Danny slowly made his way to the door and got into the truck, he sat down quickly, feeling his body start to shake, he leant back in the seat closing his eyes and heard Steve's voice, "you're doing great Danny, I'm going to close the door and go round the other side, ok?" Danny nodded, even though Steve tried to close the door quietly, he jumped as he heard it close, and his eyes flew open, suddenly he felt trapped. Steve was next to him in a matter of seconds, Danny could already feel his breathing speeding up, and he tried to get it under control, "you're ok Danny, you're safe, I'm here, I'm not going to drive until you're ready. Just look at me ok, take nice deep breaths." Danny glanced quickly at Steve and then closed his eyes again, willing himself to relax, Steve's calm voice just repeating the same words over and over again helped him to slow his breathing down, and within a minute or so he was able to open his eyes and look at his partner.

"Ok, you can drive."

Steve raised his eyebrows, "are you sure? You don't have to rush this Danny, you can take as long as you want."

Danny knew if he just sat in the car he would end up feeling more trapped, it was better to just start driving and see what happened. "I'm sure." He said slightly shakily, Steve looked unsure but started the engine, casting a concerned glance at his partner who slowly put on his seatbelt, clicking it into place with shaking hands and then double checking it was secure.

"Ok, but I can stop, at any time, ok? Just say the word and I will pull over."

Danny nodded, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Steve pulled out of the parking lot slowly, casting quick glances back at Danny. He seemed to be frozen, staring ahead. "You ok Danny?" he asked worriedly, he cast another look at his partner when he didn't reply. "Hey D, you ok?" Danny nodded slowly, but kept staring straight ahead. "Ok, you're doing great, we'll stop in a couple of minutes and pick up your pain meds." Another nod. Steve wasn't used to Danny being so quiet and found himself filling the silence, updating Danny on the cases Kono and Chin were tying up, and telling him how excited Kono was to give Gracie a surfing lesson, that got a smile from Danny, but his eyes never wavered from the road ahead.

Steve pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, "how you doing?"

Danny let out a breath and looked at Steve, "I'm ok," he said forcing a smile, "ironically your never-ending talking helped."

Steve smiled, "I'm not used to a quiet car ride," he opened the door, "I'll go get your pain meds and a pizza from the place across the road, you gonna be ok here?"

"Yeah I'll be fine," Danny said rubbing his hands down his face. Ten minutes later and Steve was back, he had with him a large pizza and a bag with Danny's pain meds, he made sure he closed the door slowly and smiled at his partner.

"You ready to get going?" Danny looked at Steve and nodded, he straightened himself up in the seat and stared out in front of him again. Steve started talking again, this time it was mundane things like the weather, the surf report and what he had planned for their weekend with Grace. But it seemed to help and Danny looked like he was doing ok, he was slightly pale and he was sweating, but his breathing was under control. That was until a car sped past, revving it's engine as it went, Danny's eyes went wide, and his breathing hitched, Steve looked over at him, placing his hand on Danny's which was balled into a fist "it's ok Danny, they've gone ahead, they're not near us anymore." He looked over at Danny's face, he could see he was trying to calm down, but his breathing was speeding up, Steve indicated and pulled up at the side of the road, he took off his seatbelt and turned to look at Danny, who was by now struggling to breathe. "Hey Danny, look at me, ok, just calm down. You're ok, I won't let anything happen." Danny's whole body was shaking, his shoulders moving up and down quickly as he tried to pull in a breath. "Hey Danny, look at me." Danny glanced at his partner and Steve could see the panic and fear in his eyes "Just breathe with me, ok? In and out nice and slow," He took deep breaths blowing them out slowly, and Danny did the same, after a couple of minutes he had his breathing under control again, and he breathed out deeply rubbing his shaking hands down his face.

"Thanks," he said smiling weakly at Steve who was sitting awkwardly in his seat facing him.

"Anytime," Steve said shifting in his seat and putting his seat belt back on, "I won't drive until you're ready, just say the word."

Danny sat for a couple of minutes; he felt drained and couldn't wait to get to Steve's house and crash on the sofa. "Ok, I'm ready."

Steve started the engine, glancing at Danny who nodded at him, this time not looking so intently on the road ahead, he wanted to conquer this fear once and for all, and to do that he needed to try and act as normally as possible. Steve pulled out into the traffic slowly, glancing at his partner every couple of seconds, after a minute or so

Danny looked back at him and met his gaze, "you're going to crash if you don't keep your eyes on the road Steven, I'm fine."

Steve smiled, "Alright Danny," he didn't turn his head completely to look at his partner again, but every so often would look at the corner of his eye, Danny was looking at the window, his hands were shaking slightly but he seemed calmer than before, and even when a motorcycle sped past them his breath hitched but he managed to calm himself down without panicking, Steve hoped the journey had helped Danny overcome his fear slightly, but he knew it would take a while for him to feel completely comfortable in a car again. Steve could feel Danny's relief when they pulled into his driveway.

Danny let out a deep breathe and looked over at Steve, "now why can't you drive sensibly like that all the time?" he asked with a grin.

"It wouldn't be as fun!" Steve said smiling back happily, as he reached for the pizza box and Danny's pain meds, you want some help getting into the house?" he asked as he opened his door.

"I'll be alright on my own, I'm just a bit stiff," Danny said opening the door, Steve gave him a doubtful look, but decided to let him have the benefit of the doubt, he would open up quickly and probably be back before Danny had made it more than a couple of steps anyway.

He strode into the house, placing the pizza box on the coffee table and opening up some windows, he went back outside and was surprised to find Danny nearly at the front door, but when he stumbled slightly Steve quickly grabbed his arm, taking some of his weight, "lean on me, it'll be easier." He said as they made their way into the house and he manoeuvred Danny onto the sofa. He sat down next to Danny and handed him a slice of pizza, "here eat this, then I'll get your pain meds." Danny took it appreciatively and savoured the taste, it wasn't as good as pizza back in New Jersey, but considering how hungry he was he figured he may even had accepted a slice of pineapple pizza, although he would never tell Steve that.

Steve reached for a slice himself and smiled at Danny, "I'm glad you're here." He said taking a bite out of his pizza.

Danny swallowed a mouthful of pizza and nodded, "me too, I'm not sure how much I could have done with Gracie this weekend, I really appreciate you letting us both stay here."

"Don't mention it." Steve said standing up, "Grace is a great kid, and you'll be able to see her and rest whilst we entertain her, it's the best of both worlds." He went out to the kitchen and came back with a couple of bottles of water and Danny's pain meds. "Here," he said throwing the bag towards Danny, who caught it easily and took his pain meds. Danny placed the bottle of water on the coffee table and leant back into the sofa, "if you're tired you'll probably sleep better in the spare room," Steve said as he tidied up the pizza box and plates.

"Hmm, probably," Danny said tiredly, "comfy here though,"

"Until you wake up with a painful neck and blame me!"

"Well it would be your fault for not having a sofa with adequate neck support," Danny said keeping his eyes closed but smiling.

"Do you want me to carry you upstairs, or are you going to go up on your own?" Steve said leaving no room for argument.

"Fine, fine," Danny said as he stood up slowly, "don't let me sleep too long though, otherwise I'll never sleep tonight,"

"Fine, I'll come get you up when Kono and Chin get here," Steve said ushering Danny up the stairs, mindful to stay behind him ready to support him, if he lost his balance.

They made it to the top of the stairs and Steve directed Danny to the spare room, "I'll grab your bag for you and there are clean towels and toiletries in the bathroom," Steve said turning around and making his way back down the stairs. Danny nodded and pulled down the blind before sinking into the soft mattress and pillows, he was asleep before Steve returned with his bag. Steve smiled and pulled the door shut, but not before he took a picture of Danny sprawled out still with his shoes on and his mouth wide open, he figured if Danny was ever shouting at him for not following correct police procedure he could just pull out the picture and then see what his partner had to say!


End file.
